Governor rejects all new UW buildings
11:03 PM 3/18/03
Karen Rivedal Higher education reporter

Gov. Jim Doyle's capital budget plan for the next two fiscal years would allow the University of Wisconsin System to finish 30 building projects across its 26 campuses but start no new ones.

Under Doyle's plan, released Tuesday and scheduled for a vote by the State Building Commission today, the System could borrow up to $239 million for the work, including $51.5 million that would be paid back with tax dollars. The balance of the borrowing would be repaid from student fees, gifts and cash.

Projects that did well under Doyle's plan include the second phases of both a $3.7 million dairy learning center at UW-River Falls and a $16.7 million dormitory renovation at UW-Whitewater. Rejected out of hand were all 11 new projects in the System request, including a proposed $34 million student activities/health services building at UW-Madison.

Given the state's fiscal crisis, System leaders said they were pleased. The UW Board of Regents had set two goals for the new biennium starting July 1 - finish what has been started and catch up on a maintenance backlog - and Doyle respected both desires, said Nancy Ives, assistant vice president for capital planning and budget.

"We are very happy they did follow the regents' priorities," Ives said.

Beyond funding the second phase of various additions and renovations, Doyle also provided about $104 million for System maintenance, and $19.5 million for utility improvements at seven campuses. UW-Madison will get about $13 million of the utilities money and $50 million of the maintenance fund - two very welcome additions to the campus budget, facilities manager Alan Fish said.

"This is really the nuts and bolts of the campus," Fish said, noting UW-Madison would use the utility money to improve miles of underground electrical cables, storm and sanitary sewers, and heating and air conditioning systems.

The maintenance money would represent about 30 percent more than UW-Madison spent for that purpose over the last two years. And with over half of the 330 buildings on campus more than 50 years old, Fish said, the need for upkeep is acute.

Another example of Doyle's thinking can be seen in the fate of proposed projects at UW-Platteville. Doyle rejected the two projects that campus leaders wanted to build with tax-dollar borrowing - a $3.8 million Karrman Library renovation and the first phase of an $8 million conversion of an old student center into an administrative building. But Doyle approved nearly $3 million in borrowing that will be paid off by student fees for an expanded student dining hall.

Fee-based borrowing is generally easier to get approved, but state law also limits those funds to things such as student unions, new housing and cafeterias.

For academic and research-related projects, borrowing is largely funded by state tax dollars, if the money is available.

Under state law, the System must get approval for all building projects over $500,000 in the biennium budget bill, regardless of the source of funds. And at times, that can put a crimp in System plans.

For instance, if the System received a $1 million gift for a building addition next month, Ives noted, the System would have to wait until 2005 to get the money through the Legislature and use it.