Proposed fee would cover maintenance
Because of closures, the construction of new residence halls would add only 100 new rooms on campus.
Published Feb. 3, 2006
A facilities fee of up to $10 per credit hour proposed by UM system officials would pay for building maintenance that was neglected after budget cuts in 2003.
Nikki Krawitz, UM system vice president for finance and administration, said the price of the fee has not been determined, but would be between $5 and $10. The fee would be imposed for every credit hour taken at all four UM system campuses.
UM system spokesman Joe Moore said after the General Assembly cut the system's budget by $106 million in 2003, repairs on buildings had to be pared back.
"After fiscal year 2003, when we suffered large budget cuts, one of the initial steps we were forced to take was to cut money from maintenance, repairs and renovations," Moore said.
The new fee would cover the $30 million cut from the maintenance budget since 2003, Krawitz said. She said the money was diverted to fill gaps between state funding and mandatory expenses, such as employee benefits.
Krawitz said the fee was being instituted this year because proposed increases in state funding could be combined with proceeds from the fee to pay for the neglected maintenance.
Krawitz presented the proposed fee to the UM system Board of Curators at its meeting last week.
At the meeting, Curator Doug Russell raised concerns about the proposed fee.
He asked if the fee could be included as part of a tuition increase.
On Thursday, Krawitz said the fee was separated from tuition because it was going to specific costs.
"I think there was a feeling from the campuses that this should be earmarked for a specific purposes," Krawitz said.
Maria Curtis, the student representative to the Board of Curators, said the new fee indicated that the system needed to look for alternative funding sources.
"If you look at the sources of funding for the system there are at least five different categories," Curtis said.
She said the five categories are tuition and fees, state funding, grants, auxiliary services and private gifts.
"The largest percentage comes from student fees and tuition," she said.
Curtis said the university should consider getting money from other funding categories.
Tony Luetkemeyer, chairman of the Intercampus Student Council, said the group does not have an official stance on the proposed fee, but it would discuss the fee soon.
"I will say that these types of fees tend to be less transparent than simply factoring the costs into tuition," Luetkemeyer said.
On top of the facilities fee, Krawitz proposed eight other new fees.
Two of these fees, a $32 fee for architecture courses and a $10 science lab fee, could apply to MU students. Both amounts would be charged per each credit hour in applicable classes.
Krawitz also proposed raising the fee for journalism courses from $21.30 per credit to $22.60 and the engineering fee from $49 per credit hour to $50.50.
The Board of Curators is scheduled to vote on the proposed fees at its meeting in March.