The Associated Student of Madison will save students money by using excess reserve balances to pay off the outstanding debt on the Student Activity Center Wednesday.
Before its passage, Student Services Finance Committee Chair Jeremy Swanson advocated for the bill by calling it a “win-win-win.”
Over the past 10 years, segregated fees put toward the General Student Services Fund, ASM, University Health Services and bus pass budgets have accumulated in their independent accounts.
These excessive reserve balances do not benefit the students or the institution in any way, but sit in a pile waiting to be put to use, according to the Reserve Reduction and SAC Debt Repayment Authorization legislation.
The amount accumulated in the reserves will be used to pay off the SAC, which will be saving students more than $136 over the next four years.
“It's not often that we have a resolution in front us where the state legislator, Wisconsin’s administration at this university and students on this campus are all in agreement,” Swanson said. “This is one of those rare instances.”
The needed amount will be pulled from five of the reserves in the following increments: $400,000 from the ASM reserve, $600,00 from the GSSF reserve, $800,000 from the bus pass reserve and $3.475 million from the UHS reserve.
A total of $5.275 million of excess reserves will be used to pay off outstanding debt on the SAC and decrease students’ segregated fees by $17.04 each term.
ASM “strongly encourages” UW-Madison financial administration to avoid the accumulation of reserve balances in the future.
