The $5 million mountain of incidental fee money was whittled down a bit on Monday night as the Programs Finance Committee met for budget hearings.
The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Education and Support Services Project requested $2,000 to partially fund the cost of taking students to the annual Creating Change conference. For the past three years, the group has requested surplus money from the ASUO Student Senate in order to help fund the trip.
PFC budgeted $250 for the director’s conference travel and $2,000 for student travel. The approved budget totaled $21,651, which is a 15.1 percent increase from last year.
The East Campus Neighborhood Tenants’ Council requested money: $23 in office supplies and printing as well as $277 for lawn care equipment to allow tenants in the east campus neighborhood to maintain their lawns as per the terms of their leases.
PFC member Mason Quiroz raised concerns that using incidental fee money to buy equipment for a first-year group may not be appropriate.
Quiroz suggested that ECNTC ask the Senate for surplus money for the lawn care equipment, and PFC voted to table the budget until other funding options had been explored.
ASUO Legal Services requested an increase in order to pay for additional insurance that the University now requires of all contract workers. PFC approved a budget totaling $206,490, which is an 8.5 percent increase from last year.
The ASUO Executive recommended a $13 dollar decrease to the Chess Club’s budget because of a history of not spending its entire budget. Director Sara Hamilton
argued that spending would be different this year because the club recently joined a league requiring the club to host a tournament.
PFC voted to fully fund the Chess Club, approving a $16 increase from last year for a budget total of $79.
Associated Students for Historic Preservation requested funds for subscriptions to professional journals, the publication of its own journal and registration fees for the National Trust conference.
However, because ASHP has never attended the conference before and has no specific plans to attend after next year, PFC was reluctant to fund a line item for the conference.
Instead of funding the conference, PFC voted to fund two issues of the society’s journal. Several PFC members urged ASHP to appeal to the Senate for surplus funds to attend the conference.
The total approved budget for ASHP was $1,032, a 9.2 percent decrease from last year.
The Center for the Advancement of Sustainable Living requested a $1,600 budget. Controller Rosie Sweetman urged PFC to stick to the Executive Recommendation model, which could allocate a maximum of $325 to such a relatively new group.
Quiroz moved to table the budget because he didn’t want PFC members to make a complicated decision while they were tired.
The UO Literary Society requested the exact budget it received last year. The $5,519 budget was quickly approved.
PFC approved $7,563 budget for the American Advertising Federation Ad Club/Ad Team. This represents a 5.3 percent increase from last year.
Also, PFC voted to defund four groups that had not submitted budget requests.

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