The financing of Carlmont ASB is often kept behind the scenes, but it has a huge importance in many school events.
On April 19, ASB finance commission will be holding their annual budget meeting for the executive council.
Justin Wang, the commission supervisor and a junior, and sophomore Ryan Perkins will introduce their plan for the 2017-2018 school year.
“Everyone in the executive council attends the budget meeting to become aware of how the budget is divided up,” said Wang.
The purpose of this meeting is to create a set plan for the following school year and to keep the executive council involved in the planning, even though the majority of it is up to Wang and Perkins along with the guidance of Jim Kelly, the Carlmont activities director.
“We decide the tentative budget for each account next year and announce it to the council and to Mr. Kelly to see if they have any input,” said Perkins.
Because there are so many commissions within ASB, there are limits as to how much each commission can spend. This meeting helps the executive council become aware of who can spend what.
“The commissions need to know what restrictions they have to operate under. This allows them to better plan out their activities for the next year and provides ASB with a preliminary plan on what we can and can’t do in our activities,” said Wang.
Many believe that having a budget is crucial for ASB to function as it does, especially for the large events and dances that it carries out.
“Having a budget in the dance commission is very important, as we are running very expensive events. We need to have every cent accounted for and make sure that we have enough money for the future,” said Becky Kosovsky, a sophomore and dance commissioner.
Each commission works with the finance team’s guidelines to help stay within the budget as to avoid overspending. Kelly also works with each commission to keep them on track.
“We have a set budget for things like the DJs, venues, and food so that we can roughly estimate how much we will be spending. Then, the whole dance commission reviews our plan with Mr. Kelly, and we decide where we should spend more or less money,” said Kosovsky.
The budget is continuous, not yearly, so each commission’s budget is specifically customized for their needs for each school year.
“Commissions maintain their balance from previous years and get money from the general fund or from specific ASB accounts,” said Perkins.
The finance commission’s budget organization has allowed ASB to produce a wide range of events for students to take part in each year.
Kosovsky said, “We work really hard to make sure we put our set amount of money in the right places and to make the best possible dances and activities.”
