Student Congress Grapples With Financial Strain

During its meeting, Congress will likely dole out about $4,000 to nine campus groups hoping to get their share of the $9,567.15 still remaining for student organizations, said Congress Speaker Alexandra Bell.

Student Body Treasurer Patrick Frye said Congress gets strapped for cash every year but usually not until the end of spring semester. "It happens every year; this year it happened a little quicker."

Frye said that given this year's shortage of funds, accompanied by an increase in student groups, Congress generally needs to be more careful this year about what events it supports.

"It's hard to say `no,'" he said, adding that the general attitude when making tough funding decisions was, "Who cares if there's not going to be enough money for the next Congress?"

Student Body Secretary Michael Woods said that it is because of Congress' habitually careless spending practices that it is scraping the bottom of the financial bucket so early in the semester.

"They had their hand in the fire for three months, and now they are looking up and saying `shit, it's burning,'" he said. "It's really about some of the practices of Congress."

But Bell said Congress has made smart choices this semester. "I think Congress has been heavily scrutinizing all the groups," she said. "We've been funding what we think is important."

Congress Finance Committee Chairman Mark Townsend also said the shortfall was not due to Congress' unwise spending. "It comes down to we don't have enough money," he said.

Frye said the funding shortfall was caused this year by a depleted Special Projects and Speakers Fund and fewer unused dollars being returned by groups.

The Subsequent Appropriations Fund, which is currently being distributed, is the money that Congress doles out for events held by campus organizations not accounted for in Congress's annual budget. The fund, which totaled $22,350 at the start of this semester, is composed of 11.6 percent of the $10 student fee paid by each undergraduate student.

Bell said most groups that came before Congress had proposed legitimate uses for the money they requested. But Woods said Congress needs to learn how to say no to funding events that do not directly benefit UNC. "Is value being returned to the campus? Since all students are paying for this, are all students benefiting?" Woods said. "It's tough because decisions have to be made, and you can't replace your wallet with your heart."

Rep. David Seymour, Dist. 17, said he has tried to support events that have a direct impact on campus. "You can't really point the blame at some one person," Seymour said. "Some people are going to get money, and that's just the way it is."

Woods said the first come, first serve attitude in Congress is not fair to all groups at UNC. "If we can develop a better protocol, at least you'd know ahead of time what the score is," he said.

The Subsequent Appropriations Fund was about $5,000 short this year because of a debt incurred by last year's Congress. The debt, Frye said, occurred because the budget reversion, or leftover money returned by student groups, did not reach the projected 20 percent. He said the reversion came up about 1 percent short because Congress changed the reversion policy to allow unused funds to carry over into the spring semester instead of asking groups to return the money at the end of each semester.

"The reason the reversion rate wasn't as high as expected was they changed the rules of reversion after budget was made," Frye said. "Groups had the money longer, and they had greater opportunities to (spend) that money."

He also said Congress gave individual groups less money last year. "When you give groups less margin, they return less."

Moreover, the Special Projects and Speakers Fund, which in the last three years has paid for groups' guest speakers and Hip Hop Nation's annual concerts, has been exhausted.

Frye said the money in the Special Projects and Speakers Fund became available three years ago during the 79th Congress, which passed legislation providing that speakers costing more than $2,000 to be paid for with the fund.

He said that while the reversion shortfall will be corrected this year and the $3 increase in student fees will help, the absence of the Special Projects and Speakers Fund will have long-term effects. "This Congress doesn't have the money (to restore it)."

The University Editor can be reached at udesk@unc.edu.