What was initially a blessing, a spare $103,198.95 in the A.S. budget, may actually be a curse for the council, with infighting and bickering for the extra funds an inevitable result. A first reaction for councilmembers may be to flash back to last year, accounting for line items cut in months of budget talks. However, they must restrain themselves.

For example, student outreach, extra funds for which students vetoed, may be a priority for many councilmembers. But they must remember that the Student Initiated Outreach and Recruitment Commission failed to spend all of its allocation from last year, which suggests that carryover monies should not to go to outreach until a concrete spending plan is in place.

Perhaps the best idea comes from Vice President Finance Greg Murphy, who suggested a broad, but safe, option: Place the windfall into general unallocated, the biggest pot in the budget available for general use.

This proposal would not raise unrealistic expectations for next year and would give the A.S. Council much more flexibility in distributing funds. The council would also be able to better scrutinize organizations and programs that request funding. In addition, extra funds in the unallocated pot would provide a hedge for unexpected costs not already included in the budget. The need for unbudgeted use is almost guaranteed to arise again in hiring lawyers for co-op negotiations, which are approaching a close.

“Save for a rainy day” may be the best adage to heed in upcoming weeks.