More than 120 student groups will be affected by the decision of the Student Senate Wednesday night when the body decides the budget benchmark for the Programs Finance Committee for 2008-09 school year.

The committee allocates student incidental fees to all ASUO programs and contracts on campus, from the Multicultural Center to the Philosophy Club. The benchmark is a goal for how much the committee’s operating budget will increase.
The senate will consider the budget recommendations of the committee and the ASUO Executive, which differ by fractions of a percent but are structured differently and have different cost estimates.
The committee estimated to maintain current services – next year’s projected operating cost plus inflation – would require a 4.3 percent increase.
“The dollar increase would equate to roughly $188,000,” PFC Chairman Jacob Brennan said.
On top of that, the committee is recommending half a percent increase – about $20,000 – of additional revenue to allow for growth. Committee members have repeatedly called the proposed overall increase of 4.8 percent a moderate one.
“The model is very fair. It’s set up for growth. We basically did it so that smaller groups, through a proportional budget, get more money for growth,” Brennan said.
PFC Sen. Neil Brown said the proposal “continues to be fair to big groups and it’s a change from the past where we’re actually giving small groups a chance to change and develop.”
In past years, a group with a budget of $600 was only eligible for a $42 increase, which Brown called “ridiculously small.” Under the committee’s plan, increases would be doled out proportionally so that most groups would receive $250 to $275, according to Sen. Steven Wilsey.
Wilsey said under the new model, groups with six-figure budgets would only receive an increase of about $700.
“It’s a moderate benchmark and it doesn’t provide a lot. It’s not enough in some cases,” Wilsey said. He said he had to separate his emotions from his role on the PFC, which demands rational decision-making and considering the cost to students of a rising incidental fee.
“At the same time I have to make sure that programs can sustain what they’ve been doing and allow growth, because groups are an important part of campus. It’s a balancing act,” he said.
“My personal take is that it’s not enough. It doesn’t leave much room for special circumstances or need. That’s a problem with it and that’s why personally I’d like to see it higher,” Wilsey said.
Not all committee members agreed. Brown said he had heard it would cost less to maintain services, and he wanted to see the overall increase come in around 4.5 percent. Still, he said the proposed increase is moderate and asks larger groups to do their fair share of fundraising.
“I know there’s going to be some opposition to this. There are some people who want to see the benchmark at 7 percent every year,” Brown said. “There’s gonna be some blowback for this. Not because it puts anyone at a disadvantage – it’s a change in the status quo, and the people who have been benefiting from the largesse of the status quo are going to be uncomfortable.”
The largest chunk of the increase in maintaining services comes from the ASUO’s contract with Lane Transit District. Back in 1988, when the student group rate was established, the district bargained individually with each institution to which it offered group rates, according to Andy Vobora, LTD’s communications manager.
But by 2001 there were so many organizations with group rates that the district tried to standardize them all. Now, closing the gap between what University students pay to ride the bus and what others are paying, such as employees of Sacred Heart Medical Center, requires an increase of more than $83,000. Wilsey said that amount seems to be a high jump to make in a year.
The increase breaks down to $13.89 per student per term, compared to $12.48 per student per term this year. Without the discount, students would pay $103 for a three-month pass. Vobora said some people unfamiliar with the process think the rate is negotiated.
“It isn’t,” he said. “It is what it is. Groups buy it or they don’t buy it.” The district tried to close the gap last year, he said, and then backed off because the ASUO had other budgetary problems, such as how to finance the Student Recreation Center.
The Executive’s recommendation for the PFC’s budget estimates the cost of maintaining current services at 3.9 percent, with an additional .6 percent for growth. Finance Coordinator Matt Rose said he may have been making more conservative estimates than committee members were. Rose characterized the Executive recommendation as “an unbiased model taking fundraising into account.”
Many expect Wednesday’s meeting to be contentious and long.
“The most important part to me is some professionalism,” Sen. Lee Warnecke said. “We’re involved with a lot of money here, so it would be nice for this to be done in a professional manner.”
As for the benchmark proposals, Warnecke said he is in the middle and wants “to see programs continue to prosper.”
“Programs are going to be able to continue operating as they have in the past, but we aren’t going to rubber-stamp anything,” he said.
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