State of the University (April 2016)

With the end of election week, we are proud to announce that next year’s SGA executives will be Alex Pong, serving as President, and Akshay Kumar, as Vice President. A huge congratulations to the senators who were elected, the Student Advisor Committee to the Auraria Board members, the College Council representatives, and the organizations that went up for referendum and passed.

In the spirit of preparing for the new year, SACAB met recently with the Chief Financial Officer of AHEC, Bill Mummert, to discuss the Auraria Campus’ operating budget for the 2016-17 Fiscal Year.

Unlike the annual budget of the university, the Auraria Campus budget is funded mostly by what is essentially rent each institution pays to AHEC. This “rent” comes out of the revenue generated by tuition, and a sum is processed by the university and then given to AHEC. However, the Auraria Campus budget has two auxiliary funds that are in no way contributed to by the institutional payments: the bond and parking. The bond, if you didn’t already know in light of this season’s election, was taken out to purchase and renovate the Tivoli to become the campus’ student union.

The bond fee, paid by every student on campus, is about $63.50 per student. The bond is also paid for by leasing spaces in the Tivoli—to both institutions and retail establishments—and by the profits generated by services like Tivoli Station and the food vendors.

Parking, however, is operated and maintained solely by the parking fees you pay every time you park on campus. There are three tiers of parking fees across the Auraria campus: $6.00, $4.50, and $3.00. In 2013, parking rates were raised $.50. Per SACAB’s discussion with Mummert regarding the 2016-17 Fiscal Year, AHEC is considering raising parking rates again by $.50, effective July 1, 2016. This raise in price would also include raising the price of parking passes and fines.

Parking has been operating in the red for the last several years, and the parking auxiliary fund is working to pay off debts in their portfolio, making up about 33 percent of the annual expenses of the service. According to Mummert, raising parking fees across the board is, “the responsible thing to do.”

The Auraria Board will be voting to approve the 2016-17 Fiscal Year budget in May. Any inquiries regarding parking or the 2016-17 Auraria Campus budget should be directed to sacab@ ahec.edu.

As always, feel free to stop by and chat with us in Tivoli #301!

—David Heisler • SGA PRESIDENT

—Omer Sarwana • SGA VICE PRESIDENT