Budget

Since blanket tax is paid by undergraduate students, RPC would like to be transparent regarding how your money is spent. As a result, RPC has listed a summary of our budget for every event we host. Please refer to the spreadsheet below to see how RPC has budgeted for this year’s events.

FAQ

RPC strives to increase budget transparency between the student body and the organization. This FAQ is non-exhaustive and we welcome any questions you may have regarding the RPC budget. Feel free to reach out to us with any questions or concerns. Please direct your questions to our treasurer.

1. What is the RPC Budget Cycle?

RPC’s fiscal year runs in accordance with the university’s academic calendar. For the 2024 to 2025 academic year, the fiscal year commences on July 1, 2024, and ends on June 30, 2025. During late spring (April-May), the incoming RPC Executive Board convenes to discuss and assign individual budgets among its constituent committees, using previous budgets for guidance. The board places a request for the budgeted amount, which is then awarded by the SA Blanket Tax Committee.

2. How is the RPC budget determined?

Each student pays a total of $84 plus an additional $6 for the special student activities fund. This money goes to the Rice Student Association’s blanket tax committee, after which every blanket tax organization (including RPC) applies for a set amount of funds.

3. What is the Blanket Tax?

The blanket tax is a fee that every undergraduate or graduate student pays each year, which is used to support a variety of organizations as determined by the Student Association (SA). This fee is listed under “Student Activities” on your cost of attendance.

4. The RPC Budget indicates that the RPC also sponsors and receives money for Beer Bike. How is the Beer Bike budget determined?

RPC hosts the annual Beer Bike event in addition to the variety of other events we offer. Student Association legislation dictates that RPC blanket tax must be divided into RPC funds and Beer Bike Committee funds. Thus, RPC receives a separate allocation of funds from the SA blanket tax that can only be used towards sponsoring Beer Bike and is independent of other RPC funds. The budget allocated for Beer Bike this year is $69,973.00.

5. Does RPC receive additional funding, and if so, from where?

Event(s) Supported: Esperanza and Rondelet
Details: Venue, food /drink, and entertainment costs for these off-campus social events typically fall in the range of $30,000 to $40,000. Since these social events are expensive, RPC uses ticket sales to help allay the cost of the event while financing the remaining cost using the $16,250 allocated by the blanket tax. By using both ticket sales and blanket tax, RPC can then keep ticket costs low for the student body. RPC is a non-profit organization and makes no profit from the ticket sales.

6. What accounts does RPC manage? 

We have 3 accounts (RPC, Beer Bike, and Passport to Houston). The funds are non-transferable among accounts.