While the Residence Halls Association deserves some credit for making changes to become more accountable for how it spends its money, it still has not come clean to students about the mismanagement of their tax dollars that necessitated the change in the first place.

The association’s general assembly approved a bill last week to create an events board responsible for RHA Movies and RHA Special Events. An RHA Events Board director will have three assistant directors monitoring each of the services. The new positions will be supervised by the external vice president.

RHA leaders say the measure is aimed at creating accountability and responsible spending after RHA Movies overspent its $82,500 spring semester budget by about $10,595.

It seems like the proper course of action to correct a mistake after it has occurred. But the problem is students, who pay tax dollars to support RHA, have no idea what exactly happened to cause the mistake.

Without addressing the problem, RHA can’t be held accountable properly and students have no clue how any changes the organization makes will improve the situation.

RHA owes an explanation to students on where their tax money went.

The $21 semesterly tax collected by RHA from dorm residents makes it the largest tax collection of any on-campus organization.

The majority of students charged the RHA tax are freshmen and sophomores who may be unaware of the issues surrounding their tax money or the fact that they can receive a refund within the first 10 days of the semester. By keeping students in the dark, RHA is taking advantage of underclassmen - many of whom understand $21 can go a long way on a shoestring budget.

Governments should work for the people. When controversy arises, organizations such as RHA cannot turn its backs on its constituents by revamping existing programs and expect them to assume everything is fine.

RHA should let students know what happened to their tax money so they can believe it won’t happen again.