Gov Scott and PECO money

[jcjohnpaint]

I find this very frightening, but wanted to get everyone's thoughts.  Gov Scott on the state school system.  From Tampa:
http://www2.tbo.com/news/education-news/2011/oct/16/menewso1-billions-at-risk-on-campus-as-maintenance-ar-272374/

[jcjohnpaint]

TAMPA --
Cranes and construction trailers seemed to be everywhere across the University of South Florida last year as crews built new music, science and administration complexes.

No more.

Gov. Rick Scott turned down nearly every construction and maintenance project USF asked for this year. His veto left all 11 state universities with about $57 million, more than half of which went for a new building for USF Polytechnic in Lakeland.

It's a breathtaking change from just four years ago, when the state Legislature gave the universities more than $650 million for new buildings, renovation and maintenance.

You can expect the slide to continue for the next few years, state officials say, and that means more problems with aging roofs, obsolete wireless systems and faulty plumbing.

State university officials had planned to request $145 million for next year, designating nearly all of it for university repair and maintenance projects. But earlier this month, state economists released a new, gloomier forecast for what's known as PECO, the Public Education Capital Outlay program.

They say the state will have only about $113 million available for education construction and renovation â€" to be divided among every public school district, community college and university statewide.

University officials hesitated to estimate what will be available to USF and the other state universities. But it won't be much.

"It's certainly not good news," Chris Kinsley, director of finance and facilities for the State University System, said in a recent conference call.

Even before the state released its latest figures, university officials were alarmed.

"Anybody knows that if you're in a large organization and can't keep up with facilities, your entire operation is in terrible peril," State University System Chancellor Frank Brogan said at the Board of Governors meeting in Miami last month.

"We're in triage, and in triage you take the bleeders first. We are bleeding. And while I love building new buildings, we'll always make deferred maintenance our first priority, whether we have 10 cents or 10 million dollars."

* * * * *
But even routine maintenance is going undone, Ken Jessell, Florida International University's chief financial officer, said at the meeting.
The problem is partly the sinking economy and partly the way construction and maintenance money has been raised for the past 40 years.

The state levies taxes on the money people spend on utilities, such as electric, telephone and cable services. Then it uses part of that money to borrow more money at low-interest rates.

For decades, the state has used this revenue to build thousands of public schools and college and university buildings.

It would cost $14 billion to replace the university system's buildings, Kinsley said.

But people are using utilities less now, and the decline is likely to be permanent as they purchase more energy-efficient appliances. The switch to cell phones has also cut revenues.

The utility tax revenue is expected to be so low this year that the state isn't even planning to issue bonds. That's why officials expect to have only $113 million.

* * * * *
And education officials worry that even after the economy recovers, changing public habits will put a permanent damper on the money available for construction and maintenance.
"It will certainly present a lot of challenges to the university system," Kinsley said.

The universities rely almost entirely on the PECO program for new construction and renovation, while public schools have the ability to levy taxes locally.

Brogan said he has talked to state legislators about a fix but has no assurances that they'll do anything in the near future.

What this means at USF is that the new bike lane going in near the Botanical Garden could be the last for a while, which concerns spokeswoman Karla Willman.

More and more students are living on campus, and pedestrian and bicycle traffic is rising, Willman said.

"The university must provide its students, faculty and staff with a safe campus environment," she said.

Other needs may not be obvious but are important, she said.

USF keeps buildings cool in the summer and warm in the winter with a centralized system that was installed about 50 years ago. It needs a major renovation and expansion to serve new and existing buildings, according to USF's PECO funding request.

Officials want the universities to offer more online classes. But the existing telecommunications system is more than 20 years old, Willman said, and "cannot support the new, higher network speeds."

Maintenance and repairs are needed elsewhere across campus, including the fire protection and storm water systems and campus security.

"All of the funding requested for USF's Tampa campus infrastructure is based on need," Willman said.

"Without the funding, the university will need to implement stopgap measures that might immediately address an issue, but such measures will not address the long-term needs of a major research university."

USF's three other campuses need new roofs and water, storm and sanitary sewer repairs.

The state colleges need work, too.

Hillsborough Community College has nearly $6 million in unmet maintenance needs on more than 1.65 million square feet of property, said spokeswoman Ashley Carl.

This year, HCC received $708,230, a third of the $2.38 million it received for renovations and remodeling three years ago.

"This is really something that is unprecedented since the program was created," Kinsley said.

"We need some predictable level of funding to maintain the facilities we have. We can't say we will put off maintenance indefinitely until times are good."

[Tacachale]

This is plainly idiotic. We save a little money now by costing ourselves much more in the future by not maintaining our facilities. It tells you something about priorities.

[jcjohnpaint]

thanks.  Yeah I agree.  So little support for infrastructure, education, and the future.