Thursday, March 12, 1998
Student governments dispute utility fee
ASUCLA: Payment would cover expenses for common areas
of Ackerman Union, Kerckhoff
By Michael Weiner
Daily Bruin Contributor
The students’ association (ASUCLA) is proposing to charge more
maintenance and utilities fees to the student governments, causing
a rift between many students on the Board of Directors and the
ASUCLA management.
Currently, the Undergraduate Students Association Council (USAC)
and the Graduate Students Association (GSA) only pay maintenance
and utilities fees for the space they use in Kerckhoff Hall. But,
ASUCLA is planning to tack on an additional $50,000 to the student
governments’ fees every year.
The extra money will be used to pay maintenance and utilities
fees for common areas in Ackerman Union and Kerckhoff Hall, such as
hallways and restrooms.
Student board members are upset for various reasons. Some say
that the fee should not be enacted the same year that ASUCLA is
scheduled to make money. Other board members feel that $50,000 is
too much for the student governments to afford, and that ASUCLA’s
relationship with the student governments is not based on money,
but on service.
ASUCLA Chief Financial Officer Rich Delia said that charging the
users of a building for common area maintenance is standard in a
tenant-landlord relationship. But, graduate student board member
Jim Friedman does not see ASUCLA’s relationship with the
inhabitants of Kerckhoff in that way.
"(The management staff’s) response has been that it’s a standard
of industry, but we’re not a standard industry," Friedman said.
According to Delia, the student union used to pay all of the
fees for common areas, but when the student union fee was raised
from $7.50 per year to $51 per year, it was determined that the
student governments should share in the cost of maintaining
ASUCLA’s facilities.
The $50,000 fee was waived for the fiscal year 1997-98 because
the student governments had already worked out their budgets for
the year when the fee was to be implemented. Next year, it is
planned that GSA and USAC will pay half of the fee, and in
subsequent years they will pay the entire $50,000.
Hugo Maldonado, an undergraduate board representative,
emphasized that the student government aspect of ASUCLA is
different from the association’s other divisions, because its
purpose is not to make money.
"The student governments are service-oriented entities,"
Maldonado said. "I don’t think they should bear the burden of the
maintenance of Kerckhoff."
"It would be unfair to impose this cost on the student
governments," he continued.
It has not yet been determined how much of the $50,000 each
government will owe, but USAC will owe more than GSA because it
occupies more space, according to ASUCLA Student Union Director
Jerry Mann.
Mann said that the reason for the fee is that ASUCLA has
unfairly had to pay the maintenance and utilities fees for the
common areas in the ASUCLA buildings.
"The student union was bearing a disproportionate amount of the
maintenance and utilities fees," Mann said.
The allocation of the fee must still be approved by the ASUCLA
Board of Directors when it determines its budget for next year.
Many members of the student majority board have reservations in
regards to charging the student governments this fee.
Friedman feels that ASUCLA should not charge the student
governments extra fees when it is already making money. The first
year the organization is scheduled to be in the black (fiscal year
1999-2000) is the first year that the governments will begin to be
charged the entire fee.
"The basis for the charge is debatable in my mind," he said.
Tim Beasley, a graduate representative on the board, said that
he has not yet formulated an opinion, although he feels that it is
necessary for the board to represent the interests of the students
and the association.
Maldonado is confident that the board can work with the
management staff in order to solve the problem.
"I’m sure that together we can work hard to find a reasonable
solution to this issue," he said.
Undergraduate representative Lung-Chi Lee is concerned that the
fees will take a lot of money away from the student governments
because they represent about one third of the governments’ entire
budgets.
"That’s a big chunk of money," Lee said. "I don’t think that the
students will take it that well."
Despite the student representatives’ views, administrative
representative Anita Cotter is in support of the fee.
"I’m in favor of the plan … because otherwise the association
is continuing to subsidize the governments," Cotter said.
GSA President Andrew Westall understands ASUCLA management’s
reasons for wanting to impose the fee, but does not know how GSA
will pay it, since it is such a big part of the budget.
USAC Facilities Commissioner An Le does not think it is fair to
charge the student governments for the maintenance of the Kerckhoff
common areas because ASUCLA’s purpose is to help students.
"Considering that ASUCLA’s mission is to serve students, I don’t
think it would be right to charge the student governments because
we’re not profit-generating entities," Le said.
"If they can find the money to build new restaurants, I think
they can find the money they need to maintain the common areas
instead of charging us," she continued.