SMSU budget hits the wall

The SFC zero funded Smith Memorial Student Union’s budget Jan. 31, the committee said, after Auxiliary Services failed to notify the SMSU advisory board of a possible $50 room rental fee for SFC departments.

Confusion over whether or not Auxiliary Services had created a set-up fee without notifying its advisory board was the reason SMSU was zero-funded, said SFC Chair Amanda Newberg. Newberg said they could appeal later by explaining what happened.

The decision came after a Student Activities and Leadership Programs (SALP) member, Rita Jimenez, received an official invoice from the Auxiliary Services department for a room rental in SMSU that included a $50 set-up fee.

Carol Martin, outreach coordinator for Auxiliary Services, sent Newberg an e-mail saying that any fees charged to SALP had since been rescinded.

“The campus events and guest services team will suspend the set-up fees for room reservations until further discussion,” Martin said in the e-mail.

Both Martin and Julie North, the director of Auxiliary Services, said there was no set-up fee.

“There was a little bit of confusion,” North said. “I do believe that those are the answers. There was some misinformation.”

The invoice given to Jimenez included a statement at the bottom saying that a set-up fee of $50–half of what outside users pay to rent a room in SMSU–would be assessed.

It also stated, “the full set-up fee will be assessed for all rooms booked after 7/1/2008.”

North said she has already waived the fees charged to Jimenez, and confirmed that the invoice had been retracted.

When asked about the possibility of any future fees, North and Martin would not comment.

John Brown, Associated Students of Portland State University webmaster and chair of the SMSU Advisory Board, said that he spoke to North Monday, and she said she would be interested in pursuing a set-up fee in the future.

“Julie wants to revisit it at a later date, once we get more input from board members,” Brown said.

North, who planned to meet with Newberg this Wednesday, went on medical leave yesterday. Martin is scheduled to attend the meeting in North’s place.