And many council members say that even if last year's referendum failed, the council should not raise the fee without student consent.

"It has to come from the students," Marshall says. "Once we've put the question to them once, it always has to be that way."

"That's the only legitimate way it should happen," Chung says.

Still, some council members think there could be some sort of compromise between a unilateral increase and another referendum.

Fred Smith '04, a new member, thinks he might have a solution to what he calls the council's classic taxation problem.

"None of us want to pay more, but it looks like [the council] will have some problems with filling our obligations this year," he says.

Smith plans to push his own term bill plan this year, which would raise the term bill for incoming first-years--members of the Class of 2005--while leaving it at $20 for current students.

"We have to do it gradually," he says, arguing that raising the fee might actually reduce revenue, as more students exercised their option of not paying.