Students can expect a possible increase in their taxes this year. The ASMSU Academic and Student assemblies passed a bill on Thursday to let students vote on a proposal to raise student taxes by $3 to $16.75.

The increase in taxes is supposed to gross about $200,000 per year and would fund an endowed scholarship for undergraduates. For an organization that has had well-documented problems allocating funds in the past, this tax increase seems unnecessary. Most students wouldn't feel the sting of an extra $3 thrown in with already high university bills, but that's far from the point. This is needless. To quote Daniel Helmer, director of university, governmental and budgetary affairs for ASMSU, "it seems like we're doing this because we can."

The ASMSU elections are in March and, for the tax to be authorized, 51 percent of the students who vote must approve the inflation. The thing is, most students could care less about this election, which is held online. In fact, about the only people who do really care about the elections are ASMSU members.

Even though the bill only narrowly passed in joint session, it passed. If the same ASMSU members that approved the bill are the sole people voting in March, say goodbye to $3.

ASMSU currently has $600,000 in roll-over money from student taxes. This money sits in the organization's risk-management account and is there as protection against lawsuits from concerts and events.

The students of MSU are very generous every year, and ASMSU should consider drawing from its own funds.

To quote another ASMSU member, College of Natural Sciences representative Karthik Prasad, "this is not our job to be meddling with the financial status of the students."

We agree. If you oppose this tax raise, complaining won't do anything. Getting on the Internet in March and making your vote count will.