On Friday, the state legislature gave its blessing to a list of 270 deferred maintenance projects in Louisiana’s four higher education systems.
State officials have estimated that the cost of the backlog of projects will exceed $2 billion, but as a starting point, colleges can rely on $75 million in special funding approved this year.
The state’s higher education systems – LSU, Southern University, University of Louisiana and Louisiana Community and Technical Colleges – and their campuses have recommended the projects, which have long been in need of funding, and they will provide project management, said Kim Hunter Reed, commissioner of higher education.
It’s unclear which projects will be tackled first, but maintenance work includes things like repairing and replacing heating, ventilation and air conditioning equipment, replacing roofs and elevators, repairing fire alarms, and repairing sidewalks and parking lots.
“This is probably the easiest list they’ve ever made, because some of these problems are urgent in nature. They can’t be put off any longer. There are problems with heating, ventilation and air conditioning or structural problems that have long been fixed,” said Commissioner of Administration Taylor Barras on Friday before a panel of state lawmakers in the Joint Budget Committee.
Barras said no cost estimates for projects were included to ensure that universities have the flexibility to start projects without having to repeatedly seek parliamentary approval. “There should be no secrecy,” he added.
The approval comes after two bills were passed this year to provide financial support for the much-needed projects. One, Bill 723, provides for a one-time disbursement of $75 million from a state savings account.
The other bill, Act 751, establishes a “Deferred Maintenance and Capital Improvement Program for Colleges and Universities,” authorizing the issuance of bonds to cover the remaining costs of the estimated $2 billion backlog in coming years.
“We’ve been working on this for decades,” Reed said. “This is day one. This is a first step: $75 million in cash to jumpstart the project.”
At Friday’s budget hearing, Senator Rick Edmonds (Republican of Baton Rouge) told commissioners he was concerned that projects might not get off the ground despite the funds available. “If we’re going to spend money on this, we want to spend it,” he said.
Reed responded to the concerns: “The message to the systems and sites has been very clear: Please accelerate projects that are completed so that we can demonstrate progress so that lawmakers have confidence that we can continue to move this work forward.”
