IV.B. Budgets

1. GENERAL INFORMATION

1.01 The previous year’s inflation figure is to be used to develop the preliminary budget.

1.02 Budgeted expenses made in the areas supervised by the President need not be approved individually by the Board, but are subject to the President’s approval. The Board may be asked to approve an expense if the President does not.

2. FURNITURE BUDGETS

2.01 Newly purchased units shall receive a full BSC furniture budget for any furniture that is purchased at the time the unit is acquired. The graduated budget shall be 20% of the furniture budget in the 2nd year, 40% in the 3rd year, 60% the 4th year, 80% the 5th year and 100% thereafter.

2.02 To determine the proportion of “new furniture” to “existing furniture” when acquiring new units, determine the cost of providing new furniture for 100% of the house’s membership and subtract from that figure the actual cost of providing furniture (excluding commons furniture). This will yield the ratio of new furniture to existing furniture in present furniture values. “Existing furniture” gets a full 10% share, while “new furniture” gets a graduated budget.

2.03 Furniture budget depreciation will be re-appraised such that the depreciation figure will be no less than 10% of the replacement value of the existing furniture.

2.04 Apartment furniture budgets shall be dealt with in the same manner as it is for room and board houses (subject to current policy). This will include refrigerators, stoves, lamps, and kitchen tables.

2.05 10% of the replacement value of present BSC furnishings should be budgeted each year. Houses may replace their furniture at the rate of 10%/yr. If a house requests furniture which is more expensive than standard C.O. offerings, the house must assume the difference in cost.

2.07 Houses may buy furniture from sources other than Central Office if the Operations Manager or designee approves the purchase. The house is entitled to reimbursement up to the stock price of the item through Central Office.

2.08 In the event that a house should have surplus funds left in its furniture budget Spring semester, the house shall have the option of setting aside up to 50% of the surplus for Discretionary Capital Improvements, provided that this amount does not exceed 25% of the original furniture budget for the year. Items purchased must be capital items, but may be items that are not otherwise purchased with capital funds (e.g. washers). In the event a house does not indicate that it wishes to set aside surplus funds for DCIs, those surplus funds shall become part of the next year’s furniture budget.

2.09 Houses shall receive a 10% credit to the furniture budget for any standard issue furniture turned in to C.O. that is recyclable. If the furniture is in good condition and has no missing parts, then full credit shall be given that is equal to the current price for recycled furniture. The cost of recycled furniture will equal labor plus materials divided by the quantity of furniture recycled that year.

2.10 Small appliances depreciate over three to five years based on the expected life of the appliance. The expected lives of appliance types are determined by warehouse staff. If an appliance breaks before its life is up, the house can replace it immediately out of the furniture budget.

3. BUYING HOUSES

3.01 The Board allows the Executive Director and staff to do a reasonable amount of research on prospective houses. If the houses meet a minimum criterion as a possible Co-op house, it would be referred first to Capital Affairs Committee, and if after going through the previous filters, it is found to be a good idea, it would go to the Board.

3.02 All reports to the Board of Directors concerning the prospective purchase of a house shall include approximate cost, size, condition, and location with respect to campus.

4. External Affairs Funding

4.01 The External Affairs Committee may award funding for external affairs consistent with the annual Board-approved budget line item designated for External Affairs.

4.02 Solicitations may be sponsored by a member, a house/apartment, or an external organization

4.03 All requests for external affairs funding shall be directed to Cabinet. The External Affairs Committee and shall be evaluated and awarded by the External Affairs Committee based on the approved annual budget line item for External Affairs, provided that:

(a) requests for funds to support the Cooperative Movement Party shall be governed by Section I.B.18 of the Policy Directory; and

(b) requests for funds to support cooperative development projects shall be governed by Section 4.04.

4.04 In addition to administering an annual budget for External Affairs as set forth above in Sections 4.01, 4.02 and 4.03, the External Affairs Committee shall also administer an annual program of making up to $10,000 in grant funding available from the BSC’s Growth Fund to support specific cooperative development projects sponsored by other organizations, subject to the final approval of the Board of Directors, on the following terms and conditions:

(a) Before the end of the Fall semester, the External Affairs Committee will conduct online outreach to the greater cooperative community to publicize the opportunity to apply for a grant of up to $10,000 for cooperative development by a due date early in the following Spring semester. Publicity about the funding opportunity shall describe the eligible applicants for the funding, eligible uses of the funding, priorities for receiving the funding, an application, and a calendar for the review process, including the deadline for applying and the date by which an award will be finally approved by the Board of Directors.

(b) Eligible applicants include direct beneficiaries organizing to start a cooperative, as well as intermediary organizations applying on behalf of a specific cooperative development project.

(c)Eligible uses of the funding include any expense reasonably necessary for the successful start-up of the new cooperative, including initial operating deficits.

(d) Funding shall be awarded on a priority basis to cooperative development projects which benefit either students or underserved and disadvantaged members of low-income communities.

(e) The application shall request the information necessary to assess the social impact and business feasibility of the proposed cooperative development, including but not limited to a business plan which describes, for example, the desired outcomes, the community benefits, market feasibility, management capacity, and a financial pro forma, including a description of how BSC funding would be used and other funding sources that are pending or committed.

(f) In the Spring semester, the External Affairs Committee will review and screen the applications, requesting in-person interviews and seeking additional information in their sole discretion.

(g) Based on their review of applications, the External Affairs Committee will submit their written recommendation(s) for funding from the Growth Fund for cooperative development (up to the maximum total amount in any fiscal year of $10,000) to the Board of Directors for consideration not later than at the next to last Board meeting of the Spring semester. The External Affairs Committee’s funding recommendation to the Board of Directors will include conditions for release of the funding which the applicant must meet, as well as a plan for the applicant to document and report on their progress to the BSC.

(h) The Board of Directors in their sole discretion may approve, reject or modify the recommendation of the External Affairs Committee, and the VPEA will notify the applicant of the Board’s decision before the end of the Spring semester.

[Board Approved 12/1/11]

5. MAINTENANCE BUDGETS

5.01 Maintenance budgets will be separated from other decentralized budgets and may only be spent on maintenance items.

5.02 Emergency capital improvements funds shall be 10% of the available capital improvements funds.

5.03 New houses shall be charged the BSC average per capita maintenance costs for the first two quarters. The maintenance costs shall be decentralized thereafter.

5.04 Houses may use 50% of their previous year’s maintenance budget surplus (as long as it doesn’t exceed 25% of the previous year’s allocation) for Discretionary Capital Improvements. Requests for D.C.I. expenditures from the Maintenance Budget surplus must be submitted for the Executive Director’s approval.

5.05 Any house may use its Capital Repair budget (at the discretion of the Executive Director and Central Maintenance Coordinator) to purchase carpets, contractual furniture and commons area furniture—with the exception of any other item which would otherwise only be described as a discretionary capital improvement item (DCI)—so long as its house furniture budget is completely depleted.

6. VENDING MACHINES

6.01 No BSC Member may earn a profit by operating a vending machine or game machine in a BSC unit.

7. PERSONAL INSURANCE

7.01 Personal property insurance information shall be offered to houses.

8. EARTHQUAKE CACHE FUNDING (12/07 BOD approved, 3/20/08 revised)

The BSC has agreed to participate in the Alameda county Emergency Earthquake Cache Program.

8.01 $1 per member per semester charged to be part of local earthquake cache program