Board approves strategy for cut to budget

The Cal State University Board of Trustees approved its contingency plan yesterday, agreeing to raise tuition if Proposition 30 fails this November or rescind the 9 percent tuition collected this fall increase if the measure passes.

Proposition 30 would raise California sales taxes and income tax for those earning more than $250,000 per year. The increase in taxes would help maintain funding for the CSU and other California university systems. The measure’s failure would result in a $250 million trigger cut to the CSU’s budget.

If Prop. 30 fails, the CSU plans to increase tuition by 5 percent for all CSU students, an increase that would take effect in the spring semester. The per unit supplement fees for non-resident students would also be raised by 7 percent and take effect in the fall.

In addition to the fee increases, the Board also voted to take the state’s tuition buyout deal, which would roll back last year’s tuition increase if Prop. 30 passes.

However, tuition increases are not the biggest issue on students’ minds.

“They are not guaranteed unless Prop. 30 fails,” Cal State Long Beach Associated Students, Inc. Senator for the College of Business Agatha Gucyski said. “I feel confident that it will pass.”

Students said they were more pleased by the postponement of the CSU finance committee’s decision on three new student fees. The fees include a graduation incentive fee, a course repeat fee and a third-tier tuition fee.

For now, the committee’s resolution states that the fees will go into effect regardless of Prop. 30’s outcome. The fees are expected to generate $35 million for the system and modify behavior among students, encouraging students to finish their degrees more quickly.

“I was pleased that the committee of finance postponed the fees; that gives us more time to inspect it,” student Trustee Jillian Ruddell, who voted against the contingency plan because of the tuition hikes, said.

The three fees are scheduled to be discussed at the next Board meeting.

The next Board of Trustees meeting will commence on November 13 in the Dumke Auditorium at the Chancellor’s Office in Downtown Long Beach.