Residents from the University Apartments met Tuesday night at the complex to discuss an unexpected 9 to 10 percent rent increase and to sign a petition to stop increase, effective in September.
Renters were not adequately warned of the increase at the complex’s March meeting, said Mahesh Padanad, president of the University Apartments Community Council. The item did not appear on the meeting’s agenda, but a discussion for the apartment complex’s budget was listed instead, he said.
The apartments have experienced a 5 to 10 percent increase every year since 2001, totaling a 52 percent increase from 2000, Padanad said. This hurts the international community, which tends to live in the complex because of its affordability, he said.
“We live here because it is relatively cheap, but that does not disguise the insufficient insulation, lack of centralized air conditioning and noise,” Padanad said.
Ron Sasse, director of the Department of Residence Life, said the increase was necessary because the University recently decided to hold auxiliaries for paying for their use of University facilities.
“Residence Life is an auxiliary … we are not funded by the state,” Sasse said.
Sasse also said A&M has set a minimum reserve requirement for all auxiliaries, requiring 115 percent of debt service plus three months worth of operating costs to be included. The 2006-07 UA rent increase and budget were presented to and approved by Texas A&M University President Robert Gates, Sasse said.
“Residence life has also experienced an increase in utility usage,” he said. “The budget is a projection of estimated expenditures for the upcoming fiscal year.”
The proposed increase was given to Gates without UACC’s knowledge or agreement, said Raj Srivastava, a UA resident and graduate student studying physics.
“The budget was simply discussed at our March meeting,” Srivastava said. “And it (the budget) was not specific as to what our increased rent money will be going toward.”
Only five people attended the March meeting, none of whom favored the proposal, Srivastava said.
The majority of UA residents are teaching and residential living assistants who, as “servants to A&M, deserve reasonable rent,” said Venkat Goruganti, vice president of the UACC. Residents have collected 398 signatures for their petition out of the 700 they hope to gather, he said.
“Tuition increase only affects incoming, not current students,” Goruganti said. “Why should UA rent be any different?”
Darcy Moudouni, vice president of programs for the UACC, said she foresees continued increases in rent ending the complex’s strong international community.
“Further rent increases will lead to newer and better apartments that will attract those people who can afford such a way of life, eventually resulting in a different community altogether,” Moudouni said.