The Student Association Mass Transit budget deficit will more than double after the mass transit board recalculates the budget this week.

Earlier this month, the mass transit board projected a $36,000 deficit for fiscal year 1991, but a deficit of over $50,000 is expected when the budget is recalculated.

“It’s going to be even worse than I thought before,” said Cyro Gazola, a graduate assistant responsible for the mass transit budget. “We didn’t expect at the beginning of the year to be dealing with such negative numbers.”

The news of the larger deficit came during Monday night’s mass transit board meeting. The budget will be recalculated to include variances in chargeable credit hours and improve accuracy, Gazola said.

The larger deficit was the result of “a little closer analysis” of the budget, Mass Transit Adviser Dave Pack said.

The original $36,000 deficit was caused by a 2.2 to 2.5 percent overestimation of chargeable credit hours last year by the President’s Fee Study Commission and higher-than-expected gas prices.

The number of chargeable credit hours is on a “downward trend,” Gazola said. The number of credit hours is difficult to estimate because students often add and drop classes.

The recalculation is “bringing reality to this year’s budget,” he said.

“The deficit is going to be well over $50,000,” Gazola said, adding the figure will be “about twice as bad” as the $36,000 projected deficit. Gazola said the deficit might range from $70,000 to $80,000.

Students currently pay $2.42 per credit hour for the mass transit system and fees are projected to rise to $2.90 per credit hour to ease the $36,000 deficit. The new calculations will raise the fee even higher, Pack said.

The fee probably will not rise over $3 per credit hour, “give or take a nickel,” Pack said. A clearer outlook will emerge when the Busing Fee Review Committee meets Thursday to discuss budget proposals, he said.