According to information received by Obiter Dicta this week, the Legal and Literary Society’s 2013-14 budget includes an operating deficit of $22 825. Approved unanimously at a special September 12 meeting, the budget includes categorized revenues and expenditures for, among other things, clubs and major L&L events throughout the year.
Legal and Lit’s constitution requires publication of the budget on a yearly basis in the Obiter Dicta, which is an admirable provision, to be sure. However, the budget has been notably absent from these pages for at least the past two years. In fact, until just before the Obiter received the budget, there was some concern that there was no record of it at all. Apparently, the Excel file containing the important information had gone missing from the L&L Dropbox. However, L&L Treasurer Waleed Malik tracked down the wayward spreadsheet and promptly provided it for publication.
The Obiter spoke with Malik about the budget’s content. When asked about the deficit, he notes the improvement on last year’s fiscal situation. Following the abolition of the Osgoode health plan, which was previously an important source of revenue, L&L’s 2012-13 financial reports show a loss of over $100 000. Malik quickly points out that this number could be misleading: “Over $70 000 of that deficit consisted of obligations connected to the health insurance plan. Only about $30 000 was the actual operating deficit.”
Over time, the health plan had, despite its inefficient cost to Osgoode students, been responsible for the accumulation of a significant cash reserve in the L&L accounts. However, upon its termination, obligations to the provider wiped out a large portion of that reserve. Nonetheless, the fact remains that L&L spent $30 000 more than it made last year.
For those readers suffering sticker shock after seeing the $63 000 price tag on the annual Dean’s Formal event, you need not write angry letters to responsible 3L rep Weston Powell. Powell, who could not be reached for comment as he napped on the L&L couch, would probably note that ticket sales make up over 80% of the event’s cost, leaving L&L holding the bag for only $12 000.
Malik says the numbers are not as bad as they seem. “I budget conservatively;” he says, “I overestimate expenditures and underestimate revenues.” This could shrink the deficit significantly, though Malik was unable to say by how much. He is proud of the progress made over last year’s much larger deficit, and quips that “I can’t get rid of a $30 000 shortfall in one year.”
Furthermore, the numbers as shown may be out of date already. The plan was approved in principle on September 12, and with the fall semester ticking away, the situation may have changed.
For one thing, L&L started the fiscal year with a cash reserve inherited from the last executive, one more than large enough to cover the current year’s shortfall. The exact size of the reserve remains uncertain, since several transactions from the past year were still pending closure at the time of budget approval. According to Malik, this uncertainty is why the starting balance does not appear in the budget document.
Orientation Week is one of L&L’s largest expenses each year, but it is also one of its largest revenue-generators. As of September 12, the $55 000 event had only missed the break-even point by $3 225. When presented with the budget, O-Week Committee Chair Adam del Gobbo confirms that it may not represent the current reality. “I don’t know what the final revenue tally was from the Week, but it was definitely more than that.”
L&L may also avoid exhausting its clubs budget for the year. VP External Allison Williams confirmed earlier this year that clubs policy had changed to prevent the disbursement of L&L funds for the distribution of free pizza at club meetings, which previously represented a majority of club expenditures.
Malik has also vowed to be diligent in his accounting practices, and warned clubs against submitting receipts for reimbursement that are “not up to financial accounting standards.” When probed further, he presented the Obiter with two receipts, both for fresh produce. One was scrawled in blue pen on a misshapen piece of corrugated cardboard, the other on an equally lopsided corner of fluorescent poster board. A terse e-mail exchange with the submitting club followed.
Time will tell whether Malik and the rest of L&L can slay the deficit before the end of the fiscal year. The preliminary results of their efforts should be known before the April exam season, but the final word will come when the 2014-15 executive conducts their audit.
Questions about the budget can be addressed to your L&L representative. Office hours are posted on the L&L office door (Room 0014E), and email addresses are available at http://www.legalandlit.ca/about-us/legal-and-lit-executive/. Just don’t contact Student Caucus. They don’t have enough money to answer your call.
Click here to view the Legal and Lit 2013-2014 Budget