The fate of the Residence Halls Association 2003 fall budget is in the hands of the group's constituents.
The $21 semester fee charged to students living in the residence halls is up for renewal in the spring semester.
The organization began this semester with a budget of about $372,000. The tax is the only source of revenue for RHA.
The Department of Student Life and MSU's Computer Center will set up a Web site to allow students residing in the dorms to vote on the tax.
"We're trying not to think despairingly," RHA's internal vice president John Sturk said. "We're pretty confident the ruling will go in our favor."
All 14,601 students living in the dorms are eligible to vote.
The student radio board tax also is up for renewal. Sturk said the votes for the two measures will be held on the same site.
Voting on the radio board referendum is open to all MSU students.
As of now there is no official date for the election, but RHA and Student Life officials are tentatively planning for March.
Cathy Neuman, assistant director of Student Life, said a 1983 MSU Board of Trustees policy gave students the ability to assess themselves on taxes that support student-sponsored programs and services.
Neuman said she doesn't ever recall a time when the RHA tax failed. She also said if the referendum doesn't pass, RHA officials have the option of putting it back on the ballot.
"The passing of this referendum is as important for RHA as their budget is," she said.
The referendums must be renewed every three years.
RHA renewed the tax in spring 2001. It was originally scheduled to be renewed in spring 2000.
The renewal is set for the spring, so the organization can get back on track with the three year renewal period.
In 2001, vote dorm residents approved to increase the tax from $18 to $21.
Tax increases must first be approved by the group's General Assembly and then decided upon by the voters.
RHA external vice president Derek Wallbank said the vote by students living in residence halls proves how democratic RHA actually is.
"It's the Residence Halls Association and the residents are fundamentally in charge of the organization," Wallbank said. "It's ultimately up to them if they want to keep RHA programs running."
