“One of the biggest things that differed from past year is preparation,” A.S. President Alyssa Wing said in an email. “There were more people reviewing the budget than ever before. Vice President of Finance Kevin Hoang charged a Budget Appropriations Committee comprised of senators, and had the committee review past spending trends.”
Wing and Hoang also put together an introductory presentation the week before the budget was discussed. Over 50 hours were spent in getting the $3.1 million budget organized.
“We cleaned up the budget by making it more reflective of our actual expendable funds,” Wing said. “The previous budget included some numbers that could mislead us to believe we had more money than in actuality.”
A.S. Council traditionally over-allocates funding to help ensure that all of the year’s student fees are used for the students who paid into it. To help make up for the $25,000 that was overspent last year, A.S. Council didn’t over-allocate as much this year.
“The current budget has been reviewed by numerous individuals in every aspect. Unless there is an enormous enrollment drop, the over-allocation should work great,” Wing said. “We normally have some
carry-forward amount, but this year we did not.”
The budget will be available on the A.S. website for students to review.
“If there are any questions, students can direct them to Kevin [Hoang] or myself,” Wing said. “We have put many hours into ensuring that our budget will benefit the students we represent and serve.”
Overall, councilmembers have received positive feedback regarding the budget.
“During the open forum portion of…the budget meeting, there were many A.S. members noting the efficiency of the new A.S. Council and the budget process,” Wing said. “We have received positive feedback from staff as well in how the whole budget process was a collaborative and constructive process – not adversarial as it has been in the past.”
However, the budget was challenged during the meeting. The first came with the budget for the new fall quarter event, Hullabaloo. Traditionally, the main concert event of fall quarter is Fall Fest, which presents three musical artists. Last year, this event cost A.S. Council about $135,000.
This year, A.S. Council allocated $60,500 to the event, which was the primary reason for the creation of the Hullabaloo event, which is more like a carnival event than a concert event. Since it is a new event, however, Associated Vice President of Concerts and Events Oliver Zhang asked council for additional funds.
“Since this is the first year of this concert, I think we need to invest now or we could lose an opportunity in the future,” Zhang said during the A.S. Council meeting.
Zhang emphasized that the extra money would mostly be helpful in ensuring that the event didn’t go over-budget, rather than a necessity to make sure the event got off the ground. The Hullabaloo
budget passed at $62,500.
The Office of External Affairs requested a $2,000 contingency fund — an emergency fund for unforeseen circumstances — due to travel expenses that the office has had to face in the past. Since this addition was taking place without a subsequent cut elsewhere in the budget, it was also met with some opposition.
“We [went] through every line item of last year’s budget with this year’s budget, and last year, External Affairs under-spent [their allocated funds] while Concerts and Events spent every penny,” Wing said during the A.S. Council meeting.
Once the rest of the budget met no conflicts, A.S. Council decided to give the External Affairs office its contingency fund.
