Kansas’ universities have won a moral victory. But the financial one may be tougher.
On the upside, Topeka has decided it needs to help the colleges with their “deferred maintenance,” repair and replacement projects that have been repeatedly put off because of lack of funds. But how much help may be another story. Right now, the campuses have a backlog of $727 million. They had asked for a $200 million down payment. But the plans being discussed by the Legislature range from $35 million to $100 million.
What does that mean for Emporia State University? At the lower end of the price range, ESU President Michael Lane said, ESU could still fix the roof of the Health, Physical Education and Recreation building this year. But the next project, a series of repairs and upgrades for William Allen White Library, could take another three years to complete.
If enough isn’t allocated, Lane said, “We’re going to get pieces of projects. And the downside to having pieces of projects is that it makes the whole project more expensive.”
Lane testified last week before the Kansas Senate’s Ways & Means Committee. He said he felt good that the senators considered these maintenance issues a long-term problem rather than just something to be treated with a quick fix. But, he said, some legislators still seem to consider this a local issue or hold that the universities themselves aren’t putting enough money into maintenance.
There, he begged to differ.
“Last year, when we received a little more than $800,000 from the repairs and rehabilitation fund, from our own budget we invested $1.7 million,” Lane said. “That’s almost 2 percent of our budget. We’re doing a significant portion of ongoing maintenance. ... The things that weren’t done in the past because they’re big-ticket items can’t be maintained at 2, 3, or 4 percent a year. We need some significant influxes of capital.”
According to the Kansas Board of Regents, those influxes can pay off. A report released Friday found that if the entire $727 million backlog was taken care of, the gross state product would go up by $1.63 billion and the state’s earnings would increase by $468.5 million.
“As state policy makers continue to focus on ways to improve the state’s economy, they need not look any farther than our crumbling state universities,” said Reggie Robinson, president and chief executive officer of the board of regents, in a press release.
The report was prepared by the Docking Institute of Public Affairs. It also concluded that every $1 million spent on deferred maintenance would produce a $2.2 million increase in goods and services, a $644,500 increase in state earnings, and 19 new jobs.
“It pays back and it pays back significantly to the state,” Lane said.
Many of the funding sources proposed by state officials have been local ones, however, such as an increase in sales tax for the universities’ home counties, or a surcharge on university activities. Governor Kathleen Sebelius’ proposed surcharge on tolls for the Kansas Turnpike would seem to take in a wider population — except that four of the six regents universities are on the turnpike.
Still, Lane said, the fact that the state is even having this discussion sets an important precedent. He was encouraged to hear Sen. Jean Schodorf, R-Wichita, say that deferred maintenance would be a continuing problem needing a continuing funding source. Schodorf headed up a task force on the issue.
“I think it’s critical,” Lane said. “I think it’s the first serious acknowledgment that there’s a long-term problem that has to be fixed.”
situveux1 (anonymous) says...
So the State Board of Reagents thinks this money will improve the economy huh? Imagine that, the people who oversee state universities think more spending will be a good thing. I'm shocked.
March 26, 2007 at 4:38 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )