The Martlet

They already have approximately $268,000 in accumulated debt, but the UVic Students’ Society (UVSS) is projecting an additional $22,000 deficit for the 2009/2010 year, as presented in its fiscal budget at its Annual General Meeting on Oct. 15.

The UVSS is, however, looking at possible sources for increased revenue, including raising student membership fees or making cuts in support and administration services, which are currently run at a loss as a service to students.

“We’re looking for opportunities to reduce expenses,” said Student Union Building (SUB) manager Marne Jensen. “A large portion of these expenses are wages, so there’s limitations to what you can do here.”

Jensen said that there is no quick fix for the deficit, and that any working solution must be cautious and reliant on the SUB’s increasing operational performance.

“There’s no magic to the economics of this building,” she said. “It’s very much a closed economy, in that the revenue that’s generated comes from students. The ability to afford wages simply comes from increased prices or increased membership fees.”

Part of the debt was acquired as a result of underperforming businesses in the SUB, as well as the 2008 SUB strike, which lasted through September and October — two of the SUB’s most profitable months.

As Jensen notes, the SUB strike had a lasting impact beyond the back-to-school months of last year.

“We’re not back 100 per cent in terms of the business we did prior to the strike,” she said. “It does take time to build back into people’s patterns.”

Food service outlets in the SUB took the hardest hit last year, resulting in a net loss of revenue of over $100,000 between that year and the previous year. The majority of the loss occurred came from food waste and the lack of business during and after the strike.

Another factor in decreased revenue was the opening of Bibliocafé in April of 2008, which provided increased competition for Bean There and the Munchie Bar, in particular.

Measures to stimulate traffic at the SUB’s food service outlets have included renovations and equipment upgrades, including renovations to Bean There this past summer. The store also re-evaluated its product selection and now offers a larger variety of food products.

“Sales are much better than they were last summer at Bean There. It is showing an improvement,” said Jensen.

Revenue at SUBtext has been problematic since sales plummeted following the provincial government’s ban on the sale of tobacco products on university and college campuses in 2007. Now, the store hopes to increase traffic by offering specialty products like bicycle products and lottery tickets.

Revenue at Cinecenta has been declining for years due partly to an industry-wide drop in movie theatre ticket sales. Cinecenta had a deficit of approximately $17,000 for the 2008/2009 year.

The theatre recently installed a new digital projector, allowing it to screen a wider variety of films.

“Business is already up from last year,” said Cinecenta manager Michael Ryan. “We definitely felt the impact of the SUB strike. We have had to tighten our budgets somewhat to try to minimize costs.”

Sales at Felicita’s took an early dive in the 2007/2008 year due to closures for liquor license infractions during the 2006 SUB party.

Now it’s hoped that a new focus on entertainment, including the NHL Centre Ice package on TV screens, will increase traffic at the pub.

Felicita’s is the next proposed renovation project on the horizon.

Any subsequent renovation plans for SUB businesses won’t occur until at least 2011, however, when the UVSS capital fund has rebuilt itself.