FedS Proposing New Fee Cap Structure – Feedback Sought to Make Fees Fair for You

The Federation of Student Executive has brought forth a new FedS Fee Cap Structure that will define the percentage by which a FedS Administered Fee can be raised over a two year period. Should a fee be proposed to increase faster than the set percentage shown in the table below, it will have to go to referendum to be approved by the undergraduate student body.

Before going too in-depth, it’s important to understand that FedS has two types of fees. The first is the FedS fee itself, which the Federation uses to run its clubs, services and general office operations. To increase this fee, a motion must be approved at a Winter General Meeting of the Federation.  Prior to October 2011, the increase could not exceed CPI.

The second type of FedS fees are program fees that have been passed by undergraduate referendum and are reoccurring.  These fees include the U-PASS, and Health & Dental plans. Fee increases for these are negotiated between the Board of Directors and the company which provides the services.  The board approves these increases on behalf of students. So basically, FedS Fees are increased by students, while FedS program fees are increased by the Board of Directors.

This Fee Cap Structure is being driven by two major events. Firstly, prior to the October 2011 General Meeting, any motion to increase the FedS Fee was limited to no more than CPI. An amendment was passed at the meeting allowing for two increases to occur: one to increase the fee only by CPI (which is standard), and a second separate motion which can exceed CPI. Students were in favour of this, but wanted to ensure that increases did not get out of hand.

The second event occurred during the recent negotiations between GRT over the U-Pass Fee for the 2011/2012 year. Board had serious reservations over increasing the price of the pass by too much as the U-PASS fee has been one of the fastest growing fees since its introduction in 2007/2008. However, it has been a program that students have given positive feedback on during the FedS Annual winter survey.

As a result of the two above situations, and student feedback at the GM, Board mandated the VP- Finance & Admin to come up with a structure to regulate fee increases for FedS related fees. The goal was to define the percentage by which a fee can increase over a two-year period without having to go to referendum. It’s meant to recognize that students are ultimately paying these fees and should have a say in substantial increases, while ensuring we don’t spend too much time and money holding a referendum for every reasonable fee increase that comes along, which would likely mean at least 3 referendums every year.

For instance, if the FedS fee is proposed to increase by a percentage less than the amount listed in the table below, then it can go to FedS General Meeting and get voted on there. However, if the proposed percentage increase is greater than the permitted cap, then it will have to go to referendum for approval.

Likewise, the fees that Board currently oversees will be subject to the same rules. So, if GRT wants a fee increase that is greater than what is in the structure, then the general student body will have to approve it. The two-year increase limitation was meant to be a mechanism to ensure that fees don’t just rise by the cap every year.

The structure is still in development and the Federation is currently looking for feedback. The preliminary percentage increases are still up for discussion, however they were chosen to reflect the fact that a modest increase on a lower fee would generate a higher “percentage” increase compared to the same dollar increase on a higher fee. For instance, the percentage impact of a $0.25 on a $1 fee is significantly more than the same increase on a $100 fee, even though both would cost students the same amount.

Whatever evolves from this would need to get approved at the Spring General Meeting, to be held in mid-March, which every undergraduate student has a vote at (watch for details). If you have any feedback, comments, or questions about the structure, let me know at t.ek.jenkins@gmail.com. I’ll be sure to pass them along and hopefully incorporate them into the final proposal.