An Undergraduate Council committee endorsed changing the optional $35 termbill fee to a mandatory $100 fee yesterday, provided that the student body approves the increase in an eventual referendum vote.

The measure, proposed by the council’s Student Affairs Committee (SAC) at its meeting last night, will be voted on by the entire council this Sunday.

This change would constitute only the third increase in the termbill fee since its inception in 1981. In 1988 it increased from $10 to $25 and then grew to its current level in 2001.

A measure to increase the termbill fee from $25 to $50 in fall of 1999 narrowly failed after it was put to a student referendum.

The council’s budget, which typically hovers around $230,000, is supported by a $35 termbill fee that 92 percent of students elect to pay, according to Russell M. Anello ’04, a co-sponsor of the resolution.

Should the new fee be approved, the council’s budget would triple, rising to nearly $700,000.

The resolution was recommended to the full council by a vote of 9 to 3, although it is likely to encounter more significant opposition now that it has left committee.

Proponents of the bill argued that the increased fee would allow the council to fund groups more generously.

“Currently we’re able to fund student groups at 33 percent,” said Anello. “With the increase we would be able to meet nearly 100 percent of requests.”

The increased funding would also allow for campus-wide events such as dances and concerts to occur more regularly, according to SAC Chair Matthew J. Glazer ’06.

“It’s going to be a great thing for social life,” Glazer said. “We’ll be able to reach a lot more students on campus.”

Compared to other colleges, Harvard’s Undergraduate Council fee falls well below the norm. Stanford University, Northeastern University and Boston College all have fees near the $100 mark, while Boston University and Dartmouth College have fees of $414 and $540, respectively, according to council data.

The decision to bring the proposal to a vote of the entire student body passed under an amendment sponsored by Jason L. Lurie ’05.

Lurie said that a referendum vote will ensure that students are behind the bill, and should it pass—as he believes it will—give more legitimacy to the actions of the council.

“We don’t want the Faculty to second-guess us,” said Lurie. “This is a way to demonstrate the trust and faith that the student body has in the council.”