Federal funding goes to campus maintenance

By Jesse Rangel

Sunday, June 7, 2009

The federal stimulus package will distribute money through the Board of Regents to the University for the 2009 fiscal year, which ends June 30, to help with deferred maintenance projects, the Regents announced last Wednesday.

The University will receive more than $2 million from the $7.7 million available in the higher education portion of the Federal State Fiscal Stabilization Fund.

Deferred maintenance, or maintenance projects that need to be done but have not been started, are put on a list by the University that the Regents use to determine additional state funding. Jim Modig, director of design and construction management, said the list of projects at the University wasn’t getting smaller.

“To get this funding is to slow the growth of the list,” Modig said. “The list is longer than the money that is available.”

Projects such as fire code improvements and Americans With Disabilities Act accessibility improvements will receive priority in this round of funding. Modig said buildings with “high student contact” and high fire risk were first on the list.

Projects that were left off of the list include a failing mechanical system at Lippincott Hall and ongoing maintenance issues at Lindley and Learned Halls.

“We also have a number of buildings failing, to the point where we can’t buy parts,” Modig said.

The rest of the money will go to the other Regents institutions: The University of Kansas Medical Center, Emporia State University, Fort Hays State University, Kansas State University, Pittsburg State University and Wichita State University.

Kip Peterson, director of government relations and communications with the Regents, said the Regents distributed the money for this year based on campus size.

The money available for the 2010 fiscal year is not known yet.

Former governor Kathleen Sebelius issued several line-item vetoes in her April signing of the 2010 fiscal year budget, striking out language that diverted 100 percent of next year’s stimulus funds toward deferred maintenance. Sebelius cited the need to include help for rising tuition costs, and put the Regents in charge of allocating those funds.

Peterson said a final decision on the percentage of deferred maintenance funding that would go toward tuition aid for the 2010 fiscal year should come as early as later this month.

The state legislature set up a system last year where taxpayers can take up to a 45 percent tax credit, plus any available charitable contribution deductions, for donations specifically addressing deferred maintenance. Rosita Elizalde-McCoy, senior vice president of communications and marketing for the Kansas University Endowment Association, said the association had received 17 gifts, totaling more than $70,000 since July 1, 2008.

“Most donors prefer giving to areas they feel passionate about, such as scholarships or academic programs,” Elizalde-McCoy said. “The main motivator for giving to deferred maintenance has been the tax credits. However, we’re working hard to identify more donors and to raise awareness about the need for giving to this area.”

— — Edited by Derek Zarda

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