Student Council passed its annual budget at last night's meeting, providing an estimate of the amount of money Council committees and Council as a whole will spend this school year, "We can switch things later," Chief Financial Officer Jeff McLaughlin said. "But it's to our advantage to have the best picture now. It's not set in stone."
As Council's CFO, McLaughlin is in charge of preparing the budget and presenting it to the representative body at the beginning of each year. This year's total budget is $60,003.40, down from last year's budget of $70,573.72, McLaughlin said.
According to McLaughlin, the budget is put together after collecting standing committees' individual finance requests and determining their needs. McLaughlin said when determining whether to grant committees' requests for funding, he looks at their past budgets to see how they have used their money in previous years.
"I see how much they have previously used, compare it to their current budget and try not to take any money away," McLaughlin said, noting also that his experience with Council helped him create an efficient budget.
"I think that ... my experience with Council gives me a more realistic idea of what money Council needs to accomplish its goals," he said.
Brian Poulson, co-chair of the Buildings and Grounds Committee, said when preparing his budget request, he looks at past expenses as well as his priorities for the year and where he needs funding the most.
According to McLaughlin, money in the budget is allocated from two sources, the Student Activities Fee and outside sources including advertising revenue from the Council-published Hook Book, revenue from activities fairs, Council savings and investments made by the CFO. Council also receives money from the University Bookstore.
"The bookstore is a non-profit, and so it is required to give money back to the community," McLaughlin explained.
According to McLaughlin, how money is allocated in the budget is determined by the source of the funds. Money allocated from the Student Activities Fee can only be used for certain things, McLaughlin explained, noting that some items such as food for events cannot be paid for with this funding.
Council has more freedom with how it uses other funds, McLaughlin added.
Council Chief of Staff Ryan McElveen said he was pleased with the way the budget turned out, noting that the budget serves as a "life blood for committees"
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