After budget cuts, neglected repairs pile up
MU has neglected more than $100 million in repairs to buildings.
Published Feb. 17, 2006
MU has neglected more than $100 million in building maintenance, including $15 million in repairs deferred as a result of 2002 budget cuts, according to figures provided by MU spokesman Christian Basi.
An imbalance between the costs of repairs and available funds caused the university to neglect the repairs, including improvements on brick walls and air conditioning units, said several MU officials.
"Maintenance needs have increased over the past five years, due to inflation, additional facilities and a reduction in the level of funding for maintenance and repair," Campus Facilities spokesman Philip Shocklee said.
Martin Walker, director of administrative services at the College of Engineering, said the university's budget cannot keep up with the increased number of campus buildings.
"We've had a building surge over the past 30 years," Walker said. "That's a problem, because you have the same amount of money, but you have more structures to use that money, so obviously some things are going to get less funding."
Walker said one building used by the College of Engineering, Lafferre Hall, had a number of basic maintenance problems that needed immediate attention. These problems include an elevator in the center of the building, which he called "half an elevator" and said that it "hardly works." The building has one other working elevator.
Other problems are less technical.
"Anytime it rains, we have almost a dozen trashcans throughout the center part of this building that are collecting rain," Walker said. "But it's very difficult to justify spending over a million dollars on a new roof when in just a few years, you are going to tear the building down."
Walker said budget constraints forced the College of Engineering to decide between basic maintenance to Lafferre Hall or a larger renovation of the building in the future.
The college chose the latter option, which would replace an addition to the south side of the building that was built in 1922. The proposed new five-story building would include an atrium.
"This is the building we have and the hand we have been dealt," Walker said. "Unfortunately we have just tended to build new buildings. We haven't gone back and upgraded some of the structures that we have had so that they meet needs of today, of our emerging research and technology."
Basi said other deferred repairs include masonry work at Ellis Library, new windows for the Arts and Science Building and nine new air conditioning units for the Agriculture Building. The total cost of differed maintenance is $117,214,000.
Walker and Nikki Krawitz, the UM system vice president for finance and administration, said deep cuts to higher education in 2002 exacerbated budget problems.
That year, state funding for higher education fell by $106 million. Since then, the first significant increase, $17 million, for higher education funding has been proposed for the next fiscal year.
"Lots of things were cut," Krawitz said. "This was just one of them."
In January, Krawitz proposed a per-credit-hour facility fee of up to $10 to cover some of the deferred maintenance and repairs.
"The main thing is the campuses would be allowed to address more maintenance repair projects on their lists," Krawitz said.
Krawitz said the fee could offset the deferred maintenance costs that have accumulated since fiscal year 2002 and the system would be willing to listen to student input about the money's distribution.
"If this fee were passed, we would use student input for how these funds are used on physical facilities' costs decisions," Krawitz said.
Shocklee said he was not aware of the proposed fee.
Rep. Ed Robb, R-Columbia, said the university was welcome to appeal to state representatives for funding but the proper way to request financing for capital projects, such as maintenance, repairs and renovations, was to make requests to the Coordinating Board for Higher Education.