Campus safety reminders set a serious tone Tuesday night before the UF Student Senate got down to business, approving the new Activity and Service Fee budget for the 2014-2015 fiscal year.
The bill’s author, Sen. Davis Bean, chairman of the budget and appropriations committee, proposed a new budget that emphasized recreation and gave priority of reserve funds to intramural clubs.
The total budget of $20 million allotted $5.5 million to Student Government, $6.7 million to the Reitz Union, $6.5 million to recreational sports and $1.3 million to Student Activities and Involvement.
The service fee for students will be $18.19, an 84-cent increase from last year.
“If there’s money that is continuously left in that account, it’s not serving the students well, and it’s just going into reserves,” Bean said.
Student involvement with gyms and club sports is significantly high, Bean said. Last year, 12,000 students participated in intramural sports and group fitness.
A lone voice, Sen. Michael Christ disagreed with funding lobbyists for Student Government.
“I don’t think the amount we pay to lobbyists is appropriate,” Christ said. “Student Government has an obligation to make sure that every dollar is used effectively toward students.”
Sen. Leah Miller said that it can be difficult to predict expenditures, but the budget lets students see where the money spent is going.
“The cut is necessary and used in a more efficient way,” she said.
The budget will sail on to next week’s Student Senate meeting for its second reading and final approval.
[A version of this story ran on page 5 on 9/10/2014 under the headline "Senate approves Activity and Service Fee $20 million budget "]
Chairman Dean gives a five-minute opening statement about what the budget is about and why it should pass, Tuesday 9/9/2014. The budget passed unanimously.
