By Vanessa Milan ‘16 & Alyssa Braver ‘16

Photo by Nicole Maselli ‘14| The Lafayette

A year removed from the budget cuts of last spring, Student Government, under a new administration, appears to be managing a more stable financial situation.

“For spring of last year, we did have less money to work with,” Treasurer Connor Heinlein ‘15 said. However, Heinlein remains confident that such monetary troubles will be avoided this year.

The 2013 budget consists of $566,750, collected from 2,267 students. The committee will meet on a regular basis to allocate funds for all of the student led organizations on campus.

Currently, there are more than 200 student groups, but only 88 of these clubs receive funding from StuGov.

The StuGov Budget Committee meets once a week and is made up of six members. The new cochairs are Heinlein and Student Organizations Chair Abby Williams ‘15. Other members include Vice President Ryan Monahan ‘15 and Representatives Madeleine Hart ‘16, Jake Lazer ‘15, and Kelly Sposato ‘14.

Every student-led club and organization is funded directly through the student activities budget. Each student pays a $250 Student Activity and Technology Fee, which is apportioned and controlled by the Budget Committee of Student Government. The amount of money given to each club varies widely depending on the amount needed.

“Some clubs request $100 and others need tens of thousands,” Heinlein said about the division of funds. He added that the process of obtaining funds from the budget is “streamlined as much as possible, so it’s easy to get [funding] as long as the money is being spent well and the proposal is reasonable and thought-out.”

Factors the committee considers when a club applies for allocations include past activities, number of members, member distribution across grades, whether or not the club collects fees, frequency of meetings, and how well it works with other clubs.

Grants to community outreach clubs made up approximately five percent of the budget last year, while religious and spiritual clubs received about six percent. Academic clubs received seven percent of the budget, arts and culture groups 12 percent, and social awareness groups 10 percent.

Club sports garnered about two fifths of the budget. All of the club sports teams together received $193,443: that is roughly $85.33 from the $250 activity fee to fund club sports like crew, soccer, tennis, skiing, and ice hockey. Ice hockey is one of the most expensive as it requires outsourcing, compared to a club that has facilities on or even near campus.

Nearly $20,000-$30,000 is put aside for what are called supplemental allocations. In order to obtain these additional funds throughout the year, clubs must present a proposal to the budget committee with specific numbers. Once it is reviewed, the committee determines whether the amount proposed is fair and funds the club accordingly.

“Clubs are rarely denied supplemental allocations,” Heinlein said. “They may be lower than expected only if their proposals are not specific enough or if there is not enough money in the budget.”

Every year the treasurer determines how much money will be reserved specifically for supplemental allocations. Heinlein says he does not plan on making drastic changes as the system has been working, “There’s no need to fix what isn’t broken.”

The remaining percentage of the budget is set aside for miscellaneous groups and school-wide events like the President’s Ball, which cost about $12,500 this year. The Spring Concert, starring Macklemore, will cost an estimated $75,000, slightly higher than last year’s allocation of $60,000 for the spring concert.

Last year, LAF did not receive the amount of funding it initially requested due to budget problems. Although exact figures cannot be released, Heinlein believes that there will not be issues with the budget.

“I would say that the situation is better than last year,” he said. “I’m not anticipating any problems, which is nice.”