SA board delays budget vote

By Pam Schmidt

After reviewing several possible three-year budget proposals Monday, the Student Association Mass Transit Board decided to delay voting on its recommendation to be given to the President’s Fee Study Committee.

Phil Kessler, SA services adviser and chairman for the SAMTB, said, “I don’t think we can make such a major decision in this short amount of time.”

The reason for the SAMTB’s delay in voting was caused in part by the new system for reviewing student fees. Earlier this semester, the administration and members of the Student Association met to develop a way in which students could have more input in the allocation of fees. A deadline schedule was decided on, which called for team recommendations to be handed in to the PFSC by Oct. 15.

The PFSC then would review the recommendations in detail and pass on its recommendation to NIU President John LaTourette by February. The requests for student fees must be included in the March report to the Board of Regents. The Regents are scheduled to vote on all requests for student fee increases at its March meeting.

SA President Jim Fischer said some of the recommendations might be late this year because many people did not know the budgets needed to be prepared for October until late August. The coordination of the teams was hard to do this year because of the new system, he said.

In the future, the review teams need to be more prepared to make recommendations by the middle of October, Fischer said.

“It is a hard thing to do with such large budgets,” Fischer said. “I hope we can work around it and get this system working. If we don’t get the budgets on time, we won’t have enough time to review them.”

In developing a feasible budget for the SAMTB, Busing Graduate Adviser Mary Hermsen said the board should try to keep a carry-over figure of about $30,000 to cover any possible unforseen problems.

One of the possible budgets is based on a zero increase of student fees, currently $4.66 per academic year. This budget, however, is not feasible because it would put the board in a “major deficit situation” by the year 1990, Hermsen said.

Other possible budgets examined include several different versions of student fee increases. Each budget was based on the current level of service, students and credit hours needed to run the system this year. The first budget calls for no fee increase the first academic year, an increase to $5.46 per year the second year and an increase to $5.80 per year the third year.

The second budget calls for an increase to $4.86 the first year, $5.26 the second year and $5.80 the third year.

The third budget includes a steady increase of fees to $5.30 each year.

Another budget possibility includes a reduction of services. Hermsen said these budgets also were not feasible; however, they were possibilities.