At the end of this semester the SGA will be out of debt for the first time in ten years.
Since 1990, debt had been piling up in the SGA main account and in a separate Birthday Ball account. Working together in the fall semester, members of the Senate, Executive Board, and Treasurer Tom Palazzo budgeted efficiently in order to reduce the existing debt approximately $21,000, along with the new $13, 500 debt from last year's Earth Day celebration.
"Coming into the '00-'01 school year, as the treasurer, I worked with Teris Pantazes (SGA Senator/Budget Committee Chairman) to set up a budget that would allow us to pay off our debts while keeping all of the clubs happy with their funding," said Palazzo.
He continued: "The SGA Main account had nearly $72,000 to allocate last semester. $49,000 was budgeted for club funding. As of the conclusion of the Fall 2000 semester, the $11,310.30 Birthday Ball account debt has been paid off and roughly $10,000 of the $13,500 debt created by the Social Chair Account has been paid off."
Having already set aside the remainder of the Social Chair Account's debt money, the SGA will have no debt this semester as long as they are careful with spending.
To stay out of debt, the SGA plans to: "Set up and stick to a budget that allows clubs to receive their money, but pays the bills that are way overdue; set up legislation that keeps salaries at a certain level; and not allow any debt to incur from this point on," says Palazzo.
The SGA was in debt for over ten years, but it took less than a year to reduce and eliminate that debt. With a few legislative actions and a lot of hard work, the debt has been eliminated and respect has been rightfully earned.
"I really believe that in the past two administrations the SGA has been truly keeping up the idea of fiscal responsibility," Junior Jordan Yelinek said. "Finally we are seeing the benefits of having a balanced budget and strong leadership."
Under the leadership of President Kate Mahoney and Treasurer Teris Pantazes, last year's SGA succeeded in paying off the main account debt which had accumulated since 1990.
Yelinek commented, "President Matundan and President Mahoney are truly the people who need to be commended for their diligence in leading those administrations to where the Student Government is now."
"I think that we have done very well with managing our finances this year, especially with all the troubles we had with the office fire," Clerk and Office Manager Kat Bennett said.
She added, "We are in very good shape and I applaud us for that."
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