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The Assembly has voted to urge that the Board of Trustees extend the current moratorium on APA member dues through 1999.
In taking the action at their November meeting in Washington, D.C., Assembly members noted that district branch and Area Council dues increases are also problematic and urged that APA leadership encourage DB’s and Area Councils to implement their own dues moratorium.
The Assembly’s proposal, which originated as an Area 2 action paper, is certain to spark debate among Trustees, who struggled with the initial action in September 1996, which froze dues through 1998. That dues freeze and the Assembly’s current position are responses to members’ complaints about dues increases and membership declines accompanying them.
The Board of Trustees voted in September to approve the recommendation of the APA Budget Committee to extend the dues moratorium through 1998 (Psychiatric News, October 3). At that time, the committee estimated that the moratorium would cost APA approximately $307,500 in lost revenue in 1998. Committee members pointed out that because that income is never recovered and results in a smaller base for future dues increases, the projected cost over 10 years would be some $3.52 million.
Should the Board approve the Assembly action and extend the moratorium through 1999, the Budget Committee estimates a 1999 revenue loss of approximately $624,000 and a projected 10-year revenue loss of $6.65 million.
In other action, the Assembly voted to approve and refer to the Board of Trustees a variety of position papers: