2010 Budget Defense
The Standard and Jacob Swett, Student Body President
1. SGA was way under their budget of $15,000 for the payroll last year. How can you justify an additional $7,000 when you were almost $7,000 under budget last year? Even with adding new committees, I don’t understand why it was necessary to add $7,000 more when you were around that amount under budget last year.
The budgeted amount for this year is based upon estimates of the anticipated amount of hours the Cabinet will work. Last year many Cabinet members opted out of taking pay for various reasons. This year more members have made the decision to take pay and also the size of the Cabinet has increased. I would also mention that a large portion of the increase in payroll will go towards funding the development of software applications that will benefit the student body as well as streamline processes to make SGA more efficient. It is our hope that through the development of this software we’ll be able to modernize SGA and help address issues from transparency and accountability to transitioning between administrations.
2. Where will the additional $7,000 be coming from exactly? And if it comes from cuts in the budget, what are some of the areas that received larger cuts?
For the past several years SGA has not budgeted all of its funds, and of the funds that it budgeted it hasn’t spent the full amount. This has led to a large rollover of funds that were unused. We feel that it is important for us to be proper stewards of students’ money and not just let it accumulate but put it to good use so that students see the results of their student fees. A few areas were cut and they are indicated in the Budget Defense.
3. I know you said there were some new committees (which were part of your reason for the payroll increase), briefly…what are the new committees and why were they necessary?
Not all the committees are necessarily new, rather some were restructured. Last year there was a “University and Civic Advancement Committee.” Senate voted at the end of last year to split this committee into “University Advancement” and “Civic Advancement.” There were several reasons for this, but the primary reason was that the two weren’t very related. The University Advancement committee works to promote the university throughout the community, state, and national levels as well as research any means of improving Missouri State athletics, student pride, and other aspects of the university. The Civic Advancement committee address issues promoting the general welfare of students as well as to promote all political affairs related to the welfare of higher education. Due to the difference in scope of the two committees it was decided that the two committees would be able to better focus their efforts and skills by being separated. Also, both committees have a large amount of projects and it wouldn’t be feasible for one committee to accomplish them all.
One committee that is new to SGA is the Sustainability Committee. This committee was also voted on by Senate last semester. The purpose of the Sustainability Committee is to address the promotion and advancement of sustainable practices and behaviors at Missouri State. This also includes researching and submitting proposals to the Sustainability Commission.
Along with these two committees we also added a Secretary of the Senate and a Director of Information Technology. The Secretary of the Senate was added so that we would have adequate help accomplishing tasks such as preparing for senate, completing inventory, archiving, and project research. Our Director of Information Technology was added, in part, to maintain and create a new website that functions properly. The new website increases transparency and makes it easier for students to navigate and to find the information they need to stay informed.
4. Can you explain how pay-rate is determined, and what types of positions in SGA are paid?
The pay-rate for everyone is minimum wage i.e. $7.25 per hour. All cabinet members are eligible to take pay for their work for SGA.
5. $6,000 feels really high to me for office supplies, especially when considering SGA only budgeted $1,000 last year. What is included in “office supplies,” and why is it now necessary to spend so much more (when compared to past years)? Where is this money coming from?
$6,000 dollars is significantly higher than the $1,000 that was budgeted last year, but the estimate for this year was not based on what was budgeted last year but rather what was spent last year, i.e. $3,440.04. We anticipate having similar expenditures this year as well as several more, such as a new printer. SGA’s current printers are in poor condition, and we anticipate having to purchase a new printer in the coming year. Thus the budget was raised to allow for this possibility. Also, the office has for the past several years been poorly supplied, and we plan to use funds out of this portion of the budget to adequately supply the office so that Senators and Directors will have the resources to accomplish their goals.
Many different items are included in this category. This is because the university’s financial system offers us a limited number of categories to charge purchases to and thus this category covers a broad range of purchases. This includes items from pens and paper, to printers and toners, to electronic supplies, etc…
6. Were there not more sustainable, cost-effective things SGA could do rather than allocating that substantially higher amount of funds to “office supplies”?
SGA always strives to be as cost-effective as possible we would never spend students money on a purchase unless we thought the purchase was completely necessary.
7. Does SGA have the same amount it its budget as last year? How much is SGA’s budget, and how are you guys funded? (Is the budget the same every year, or what effects it?)
We anticipate SGA having slightly more money than last year. While we will not know the final amount until financial services completes an audit, we are expecting a carry forward of approximately $26,000 and a budget for FY11 of $32,300 giving us an approximate total of $58,000. Last year SGA had an approximate total of $52,000. SGA is completely funded by the students. Students pay $1 per semester.
8. So, this budget will go into effect after it is (hopefully) approved Tuesday night? In other words… what you guys are voting on Tuesday night is approving the budget for this school year, right?
Yes, once the budget has been approved, it will be in effect immediately. The budget will remain in effect until a new budget is approved next fall.
9. The whole “supplies” section is confusing to me in your defense. It says the change for this upcoming budget is +$3,400, but from the numbers I see in the office supplies, food, and clothing sections, that is already above +$5,000. Did you cut a whole lot from other sections of the supplies not listed or something?
See question 10.
10. Why were the cuts in those sections not listed (and what were they)? (If the change is only +$3,400, I don’t get how you can have +$5,100 total for those 3 sections (5000+450-350= 5100) without cutting other supplies sections. I thought your defense listed all changes to the budget, but if the supplies is +$5,100 when adding the changes to those 3 sections, and the total change you have listed is +$3,400, I don’t get how that adds up.)
The discrepancy that you see in this portion of the budget is a result of miscalculations in the budget defense last year. Last year the “Supplies” total did not equal the sum of the three subcategories. ($1,000 + $300 + $1,100 = $2,400 not $4,100). The budget defense for this year is written so that the subcategories equal the total. However, we did show what was budgeted last year and then showed the difference between those figures and this year’s figures. Thus the discrepancy was carried through in the difference, but not into the new budget.
Downtown ATM Plan
The Standard and Austin Kramer, Director of Administration and Information Services
Questions 2 and 7 were answered by Student Body President Jacob Swett
1. How long has your committee been considering a Commerce Bank ATM?
Jake and Justin made this project part of their campaign, and it has been my committee’s responsibility to follow through on this project to make sure it becomes a reality.
2. Why do you think Springfield has a need for a Commerce Bank ATM downtown? Can’t people just (use) other ATMs in the area?
The primary purpose for wanting a Commerce Bank ATM downtown is to provide students with an ATM that they are banking with in a convenient location. Students on campus have several Commerce ATMs to choose from, but students at Brick City, PCOB, and other Missouri State buildings don’t have a Commerce Bank ATM close to them. It is our hope that students and the community who bank with Commerce will find the centralized location on the Square to be a convenient way to access their money and will feel much more comfortable using an ATM that they know won’t have service charges.
3. Will MSU have to pay anything for it? Why?
MSU will not have to pay for this project. Commerce Bank sees this as both a marketing tool and a service to provide to the public, so they are going to fully fund this project.
4. Where do you hope to see the ATM located?
We hope to see the ATM installed at the Park Central Office Building, because SGA feels that this location is in the heart of an area where the largest amount of students downtown would have access to its use.
5. What will your resolution regarding the ATM do exactly? I know it “supports” an ATM downtown, but what will that accomplish?
The Student Government Association is a recommending body that expresses the voice of the students. It is our hope with this resolution that administrators are made aware that students would like to see an ATM installed downtown on the MSU campus.
6. When would be a realistic time for students to expect a downtown ATM to become a reality?
Commerce Bank hopes to have this ATM installed and fully functional at some point during the spring 2011 semester.
7. Who at Commerce Bank will SGA have to work through, and after you pass this resolution, do you think it will be pretty smooth sailing? (Basically, does Commerce support the idea?)
SGA has been working with John Cox, Executive Vice President, and Amy Steele, the Missouri State Branch Manager, to discuss the details of the process. Both of these individuals completely support the idea and were very appreciative of SGA for bringing the idea to them. We have the full support of Commerce Bank. Missouri State, Commerce Bank, and the property owner just need to come to a consensus on the specifics of the plan.
Questions Regarding Document Access on the SGA Website
The Standard and Kinsley Stocum, Director of Communications
When should the resolutions regarding the budget and ATM be posted online for interested parties to see?
I have yet to see any new resolutions pass this year on SGA’s website. How long after resolutions are passed will they be posted?
Our document management system is still being structured, which has complicated document access for the time being. Passed resolutions are slowly being updated in the “Archive” section of the Documents page (if you take a look on the navigation bar on the left you’ll see the word “archive”). Once our document software is fully completed, the posting of upcoming resolutions as well as any passed documents will become much more regular and dependable. We apologize for any present difficulties.