Student Union Building Account ($1 increase)

At the present time $7 of the Association fee is allocated to the Building Fund. The proposed increased to $8 can be compared with the allocations at the other Universities, the figures speaking for themselves.

The building costs of the present Union facilities is $981,000. By the end of 1972 the original building will be debt free and the building fund allocation will finance extension with repayments. With the $1 increase, by the end of 1974 the fund will stand at $295,000, and with the 50% Government subsidy (based on 10 square feet per student) this should generate about $600,000.

Present planned extensions to the Union (Tower and Gymnasium contracts) will cost about $500,000 without equipment or furnature. However, cost increases in the building sector are in the order of 45% over the past 18 months so the proposed increase will do little more than keep pace with the rate of inflation: It will therefore be necessary to borrow to finance some of these stage I developments.

On the basis of official projected population estimate of 10,000 students in 1980, facilities will have to be at least doubled in order to maintain the present services offered by the Association. These will cost in the order of $2 million in stages and there is a need to set aside funds for this.