The Associated Students of UC Santa Barbara firmly opposes the decision of the UC Office of the President (UCOP) to include student-initiated fees in their assessment of campus expenditures for the new UCOP funding system. We have affirmed this opposition by excluding the tax in the new student-initiated fees that were on the ballot for the 2012 Spring General Election ballot. We oppose this tax for the following reasons:
- Student-initiated fees have historically not contributed to or received any funding from UCOP. The fees have always remained on campus and have been administered by the campus or Associated Students. Therefore, Associated Students believes that the UCSB campus should not be taxed on an estimated $12,562,910 worth of Associated Students expenditures for the 2009-2010 fiscal year.
- The amount owed by Associated Students is inaccurate due to the improper assessment of expenditures and because of the fundamental difference between students-initiated fees and tuition. The difference being that these are fees students have voted to place upon themselves because these fees provide services that the university cannot, or at least does not, provide for students and the rest of the campus. These fees inherently improve the quality of life on campus for students and the greater university community at no or marginal cost to the university. Ergo, it should not be owed in the first place.
- Our budget is significantly different this year than 2009-2010. Our total budget this year is $9,958,704. This inordinately and negatively affects the Associated Students budget for future students who might not be living in the same fiscal reality. A better method of assessment would be to take the average of the preceding five (5) years and calculate an average. This would provide for a more accurate picture––rather than a disproportionate snapshot––of our and other departments’ budgets.
- There is a discrepancy between the UCOP invoice balance and our actual 2009-2010 fiscal year dollars. Our expenditures for the 2009-2010 fiscal year were not $12 million dollars—they were $10,553,023; and of those funds approximately $4,687,254 was distributed throughout the campus to departments outside of Associated Students––Campus Learning Assistance Services, Arts and Lectures, Multicultural Center, Disabled Students, Student Health, Recreation Center, University Center, Events Center, Office of Student Life and the Children’s Center) as pass-through fees. This would mean that applying the tax on all of our expenditures in 2009-2010 we are levied a tax of $178,346 if we are taxed on everything including the campus pass-through fees. If we are taxed only on those funds that we are directly responsible for—then our tax burden would be $99,131.50. We thank Chancellor Yang for recognizing this double-tax and appropriately paying for this discrepancy centrally and request that UCOP recognize this error and adjust their calculations accordingly so that this does not adversely affect our campus as a whole.
- Associated Students is nearly entirely funded by student-initiated lock in fees. As stated above, our fiscal year 2011-2012 budget is $9,958,704. Of that $9,958,704, other University departments receive $3,984,620 and it is not used by Associated Students. Of the remaining $5,974,084, only $2,305,960 is undesignated since Associated Students has lock-ins fees of its own as well. This $2,305,960 is used to fund our internal operations from staff salaries and benefits to thirty three (33) executive offices, boards, committees, and commissions, while the remainder of this funding remains in an unallocated account to then be distributed to other registered student organizations to produce events. These events include philanthropic events, cultural events, and special graduation events that enrich the quality of student life on campus. Again, while these events enrich the campus as a whole, student-initiated fees pay for these costs.
- Students vote on the lock-in fees every two years during campus elections. The language of the fees states very clearly how the money will be used. When students vote “YES” on keeping fees or introducing new fees, they are, in essence, signing a contract with the Regents of the University of California stating that they agree to pay a certain amount of money more per year and of that amount a majority will be spent on the program or service. Those costs that are not directed to the programming fee are specifically enumerated. At UCSB, we assess 1% for Associated Students administration, 7% for campus administration, and 25% for Return to Aid. The student voting for that fee is told that 67% of the fee will go to the programming cost of the service. We fundamentally disagree that this tax constitutes a direct cost of the service––as has been claimed by certain university officials––and furthermore believe that to assert otherwise is an attempt on the part of UCOP, the UCSB Office of Budget and Planning, and/or Chancellor Yang to mitigate UCOP’s misguided decision to extract money from these student services and programs for the payment of this tax.
- Forcing us to allocate funds from lock-in fees to pay this tax would breach the contract made with students when these initiatives were passed. We are the body elected to represent our fellow students; we cannot misappropriate student fee dollars in good faith and as responsible stewards of student fees.
- This fee places an undue and unfair burden on the remainder of the Division of Student Affairs. We would like to thank Chancellor Yang for the decision to exclude campus-based fees (including student-initiated fees) from the payment of this tax for the current fiscal year 2011–2012. Still, Associated Students firmly opposes redistributing the amount we owe towards the tax into the rest of the Division of Student Affairs. That action will still take money away from student services, which are currently underfunded. If the UC Office of the President chooses to incorporate student-initiated fees in calculating the amount the campus will be taxed, then the amount owed by Associated Students should be distributed evenly across the rest of the campus as with the model at UC Berkeley. However, we first demand that UCOP remove student-initiated fees from their initial calculation so that our campuses can be better prepared for appropriately handling this tax next year.
- Although we oppose assessing student initiated fees in this tax, we argue that Associated Students should receive exemptions from any and all taxes that may be levied for each of the funding contributions we make to the campus. Aside from our contributions to Student Affairs, Associate Students makes many hidden expenditures to control points on campus through divisions of A.S. including A.S. Recycling, A.S. B.I.K.E.S., and A.S. Coastal Fund.
From a pragmatic point of view, if the campus and the Division of Students Affairs is being charged the amount of $209,874 for Associated Students and its support to other campus departments, then Associated Students seeks an exempt status from that tax based on the service and funding contributions to the campus in its totality.
On an annual basis, Associated Students provides the campus with necessary funds needed for the physical maintenance of the campus and—it provides direct services to the campus.
Below are some examples of Associated Students’ contribution towards the campus:
AS Recycling program: 2009-2010
Staff Salaries $49,869.93
Student Salaries $68,053.45
Operating $33,335.19
TOTAL $151,258.57
Operating expenses include leasing two electric vehicles from the University and rental of the trailer out at the Eucalyptus Grove.
2010-2011
Staff Salaries $25,848.75 (position vacant 6 months)
Student Salaries $65,643.40
Operating $30,923.26
TOTAL $122,415.41
2011-2012 (so far)
Staff Salaries $0 (position vacant)
Student Salaries $50,305.46
Operating $25,704.28
The AS Recycling program provides event recycling for on campus events. In 2009-2010 they charged a total of $2,310 to do this. In 2010-2011 the total was $2,443.00.
BIKES
Associated Students collects $87,400 each year and deposits the funds directly to Facilities Management to improve the Bike paths on campus.
Coastal Fund
Associated Students administers the Coastal Fund fees, $303,800 per year, to environmental projects and does not charge an administration fee. (Marine Sciences originally was going to charge a 25% recharge to administer the funds, which is why the funds ended up in Associated Students.)
Without these contributions, there would either be no funding for these services or the campus would have to increase expenditures at different control points to fill the gap.
Furthermore, there is the possibility that student fees are being taxed multiple times as they circulate through the campus. Associated Student has been taxed on the $87,400 from B.I.K.E.S. expended to Facilities Management. When Facilities Management expends those dollars, are they also being taxed? If the answer is yes, then there must be a complete reassessment of campus expenditures for a more accurate dollar amount owed to UC Office of the President.
- Associated Student would like to enquire as to the intention of the Office of the President and/or the UCSB campus to tax student fees multiple times as they move through a campus. If this is not the intention, then the amount that is owed by this campus on behalf of Associated Students needs to be adjusted accordingly.
In light of these arguments, we would like to, once again express, our nuanced appreciation for exempting campus-based fees for this year. As we explore the system-wide approach vis-à-vis campus-based fees, we implore the UC Office of the President to not consider student-initiated fees in their assessment of campus wide expenditures. Should UCOP continue to make the same mistake and include student-initiated fees, we demand that Chancellor Yang cover the tax centrally within our campus so as not to continually affect students and student fees with budget cuts for fees we have imposed upon ourselves.
Signed,
Harrison Weber, Associated Students President
Chloe Stryker, Internal Vice President
Ahmed Mostafa, External Vice President for Statewide Affairs
Tim Benson, External Vice President for Local Affairs
Beau Shaw, Student Advocate General
Nathan Walter, Representative at Large
Avi Rubin, Representative at Large
Ielaf Altoma, Representative at Large
Danielle Bermudez, Representative at Large
Daniel Rojas, Representative at Large
Briana Riley, Representative at Large
Mayra Segovia, Off Campus Representative
Eduardo Magana, Off Campus Representative
Shervin Shaikh, Off Campus Representative
Rhandy Siordia, Off Campus Representative
Juan Galvan, Off Campus Representative
Briana Brown, Off Campus Representative
Sawyeh Maghsoodloo, Off Campus Representative
Xenia Mendez, Off Campus Representative
Danielle Foster, Off Campus Representative
Dariush Banihashemi, Off Campus Representative
Rasha Ali, Off Campus Representative
Alexis Roldan, Off Campus Representative
Jonathan Abboud, On Campus Representative
Kristian Whittaker, On Campus Representative
Lesa Bishop, On Campus Representative
Christian Hernandez, On Campus Representative
Guadalupe Ibarra, On Campus Representative
Rickird Ramirez, University Owned Off Campus Representative
ASUCSB