The residence council reacted in unanimous opposition March 9 to the 2013-14 budget delivered five months late for the Rideau River Residence Association (RRRA).
Council voted against the budget with 17 against, none in favour, and five abstaining, according to three who attended the meeting.
“I understand where they’re coming from,” said RRRA president and chief financial officer Will Cathcart, who was in charge of presenting the budget.
He acknowledged two of council’s criticisms: the budget’s timing and its surplus, which under Ontario law RRRA must reinvest to maintain its not-for-profit status.
Cathcart said some surplus is from last year and some is for renovation costs not covered by the university.
He said the budget, which according to RRRA’s constitution should have been presented to council Nov. 10, 2013, wasn’t later than budgets presented in the past.
He said his operations manager assured him what happened with the budget this year has happened for up to eight years.
Some may go to events this year like RRRA formal, but the rest he said he’d like to hang on to for the future RRRA executive.
“We want to make sure in years where there are deficits that we’re not going to go down the tubes,” he said.
Cathcart said it was important for him to create a budget that future executives can use as a working document.
“I’m trying to get everything set correctly, and not rush through it,” he said.
Some councillors disagreed that the budget was detailed enough to use as a working document, and that the time it was presented is unacceptable.
Councillor Frano Cavar said RRRA should be accountable to the $45 residence students pay to the organization each year.
“We have to be honest that [Cathcart] inherited a lot of questionable numbers,” he said.
Cavar is a member of RRRA’s financial review committee. He said the committee, who helps shape the budget and who saw the budget before it was presented to council, never met regularly.
Councillor Maddie Adams said the budget was a “skeleton” that didn’t show where money was going.
“It was hard to figure out what everything was a part of,” she said.
Folarin Odunayo, outgoing vice-president (finance) and incoming president of the Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA), also holds a seat on council. He said what he saw March 9 surprised him.
“RRRA council’s been very passsive this year, but what I’ve seen is 17 people stand up and say, this is not acceptable,” he said.
“It also begs the question, why didn’t these same people speak up during the year, when there was no budget?” he said.
Cathcart said he is presenting a more detailed budget to RRRA’s finance committee March 12, before council votes again March 16.
