Apparently, a penny saved is now a penny earmarked to fill budget deficits if you're a student-funded group.
The new state budget specifically called on UW-Madison programs that receive funding from student segregated fees to fork over nearly $2.2 million on top of the $1.3 million they've already provided as part of a budget cut throughout the university.
Although this money will fund future financial aid, Brandon Williams, chair of the Associated Students of Madison's Student Services Finance Committee, thinks the state Legislature has overstepped its bounds.
These funds are being taken from students, administered by students back to students, so it just doesn't seem fair to me that they have to take on this extra tax burden,"" Williams said, adding that the cuts were unprecedented, as far as he knew.
Many of these student-funded programs, like University Housing, the Union and Recreational Sports, receive only a portion of their funding from segregated fees. ASM, however, receives most if not all of its funding from segregated fees, distributing most of it to student organizations.
Next year, ASM will contribute about $256,000 to the budget, according to ASM Chair Tyler Junger, the majority coming from the organization's now-depleted reserve fund.
""I don't know how much of a handicap that's going to be, because I really can't predict what's going to happen next year,"" Junger said, though he noted the reserve fund has run a yearly net surplus as long as he can remember, so he did not anticipate any service reductions.
Williams said most of the $2.2 million was taken from reserve funds, including $494,000 from University Housing, $397,000 from the Union and $287,000 from Recreational Sports. But that, he said, is no excuse for dipping into student's pockets.
""They ran such a massive budget and couldn't figure out a way to balance it, so they had to grab money,"" Williams said.
It's not the first time. Junger said the state tried to make similar cuts to student-funded programs in 2003, but students joined forces with then-Chancellor John Wiley.
""This time, students were basically on their own. David doesn't always beat Goliath,"" Junger said.
Other programs, like University Health Services, had to dig into their cash fund that is used to pay immediate liabilities, according to UHS Executive Director Sarah Van Orman.
""It affects us more over the long term because '¦ it means that moving forward we don't have any long-term reserves,"" Van Orman said.
According to Williams, the state got away with tapping these resources because all university money is, by definition, the state's money, even though only 20 percent of the university budget is state-funded.
Williams said SSFC is working with other campus organizations and may seek legal counsel ""to make sure that this never happens again,"" possibly even appealing for the state to redistribute the funds.
The Vice Chancellor's Office was unavailable today and unable to comment on the cuts.
