Heather Mangan

Although the Students’ Association collected around 700 signatures, SA decided not to submit petition that would refer the Third B tax to a city vote.

Brookings Mayor Scott Munsterman told SA President Amanda Mattingly Thursday, Feb. 24, just a few hours before the petition’s deadline, he would propose to earmark a portion of the Third B tax money to SDSU for promotional use at Tuesday’s city council meeting.

“From my understanding, the deal is only good if we didn’t turn in the signatures,” Mattingly said. “[The council] knew we were serious about it and wanted to do something to stop it from going to a vote.”

The proposal will also include that three students would sit on a committee to determine how the money from the Third B tax is to be spent.

“It’s what we have been planning all along,” Munsterman said.

Although council members will not vote on the proposal until Tuesday’s meeting, Mattingly said six council members gave her their vocal word that they would support the proposal. She said in order for it to pass, four council members would have to approve.

Munsterman said the money will not go directly to the university, but a minimum of $35,000 will be set aside for SDSU use only.

“This has taken care of what they were concerned about and it has taken care of things fur us,” he said. “We are into bigger and better things.”

Mattingly said it was hard to decide not turn in the petition but she believes this is the best solution for students.

SA senator Ryan Brunner that the petition helped ignite discussions of an agreement between the university and the council.

“The money doesn’t actually have to be transferred over to the university but we want something to be used for promotion of the university because the students don’t have the choice to pay the Third B,” he said. “It’s the agreement we were looking for from the beginning. It benefits the students and it will have a positive affect on the university.”

The tax will take effect July 1 as planned. Students who live on-campus are required to pay the tax because their mandatory meal plans fall into the category of foods taxed under the Third B tax. Members of SA began asking for signatures to refer the tax a week and a half ago because they felt students weren’t fairly compensated because they have no choice but to pay the tax.

Mattingly is aware that her decision may be a controversial one.

“If anybody has questions about this, they can contact me about it and I can sit down and talk with them,” Mattingly said.