AS is likely short around $38,000 due to accounting errors carried over from last year, said Kari Walton, AS vice president of finance.

The money was supposed to be in the AS contingency fund, which is used for “incidental expenses,” and to fund student proposals to the AS Senate, said AS President Eric Weaver.

Around $50,000 was expected to be available in contingency, but after discovering discrepancies between her records and those from the accounting department and last year’s vice president of finance, Rob Johnson, Walton said there is probably around $12,000.

Though the exact source of the error is still unknown, Walton said it likely originated in AS. She said she will be following extensive paper trails until the records are corrected.

“There are things on our part that weren’t recorded that were legit transactions that accounting does have recorded,” Walton said. “So, I’m fairly certain it’s on our end and not on accounting’s end.”

A smaller contingency fund will mean the senate will have a tighter wallet when students come to them for money, said Weaver. In the past, he said, the senate has been “too much about money” and passed much of what was proposed to them.

Now he expects the senate to hold proposals under more scrutiny, and will encourage AS to cut out areas of “excess,” he said.

“We can’t be wish granters anymore,” Weaver said. “We have to analyze proposals. AS is no longer the granddaddy whose pockets are bulging with money.”

AS must operate more like a business, making sure the events they sponsor are cost-effective, Walton said.

“Everything we do, we need to try to get a profit from it, or not lose as much money as we would have,” she said.

The contingency shortage will not affect events that were already planned into the budget, including Punk ‘n Pie and other “traditional” Biola events, Weaver said. However, the shortage could affect events in next semester’s budget, depending on how the senate decides to distribute funds at its December budget meeting, he said.

“Anything that’s happened before will probably happen again,” Weaver said.

Despite the shortage, Walton said she still expects to rollover some of this year’s contingency money to next year’s. She said this is a precedent that has been set by previous AS administrations that has allowed the senate to continue to grant proposals each year. However, this will require that the senators exercise restraint, she said.

“I won’t let the senate spend all the money,” she said. “If they do, then the senate next year will have nothing to start with.”

Watson also said she will encourage the AS service branches to be more frugal with the money they’ve already been budgeted, as any extra they can save will go into contingency.

Weaver emphasized that the senate has more of a role than just handing out money. He said senators’ most important roles are to inform students and to be a student voice to the administration.

Weaver and Walton both said that the contingency shortage could actually work to AS’ favor, forcing AS to focus more on service than money. Obstacles like this can also be opportunities for personal growth, Weaver said.

”You sign up to be a representative and to take a leadership role and there are things you expect and things that you don’t,” he said. “And I think the things you don’t expect are the real challenges and opportunities for growth, even more so than you had originally anticipated.”