Topeka ? State universities’ $586 million list of deferred maintenance projects probably will be deferred at least one more year.

A proposed package of tax increases and bonds to pay for the backlog of repairs at six schools, including Kansas University, was heard Tuesday in the Senate budget committee.

But Chairman Dwayne Umbarger, R-Thayer, said given the current anti-tax climate in the Legislature, the measure probably would go nowhere.

“It’s highly unlikely this thing is going to get any legs this session,” Umbarger said. “But I think we need to get it on the table for discussion because if not this year we’re going to have to deal with it.”

Higher education officials have been stating their case during the last year that aging structures and funding shortfalls have added up to crumbling buildings and faltering utilities.

In some campus buildings, awnings have been built to protect students from falling concrete, while floods caused by burst pipes, which should have been replaced years ago, are adding to increased repair bills.

Last week, KU officials said the storm that hit the Lawrence campus this month probably did greater damage because of old, weakened roofs that should have been replaced earlier.

To raise money to fix the buildings, the Kansas Board of Regents has proposed a 1 mill statewide property tax levy, one-tenth of a cent increase in the sales tax that would end in 2016, and $150 million in bonds.

If lawmakers accept that idea, the increase would add $17.25 per year in property taxes on a $150,000 house, or about 5 cents a day, and $14.81 per year in sales taxes, or 4 cents per day.

Reggie Robinson, president and chief executive officer of the regents, said that increase would mean “Kansas taxpayers’ valuable investment in our state university campuses could essentially be protected for the price of a cup of coffee each month.”

But leaders of the anti-tax Kansas Taxpayers Network and Americans for Prosperity Kansas said a tax increase would hurt the economy, and that schools already were getting enough money.

“Kansas already has high property and sales taxes,” said Karl Peterjohn, executive director of the taxpayers network.

Peterjohn said Kansas ranked 13th in the nation in per-person spending on higher education.

But Umbarger said it was difficult to compare higher education spending among states because each system is funded differently.

Alan Cobb, head of Americans for Prosperity, said lawmakers should look at how universities spend their funds. Asked if he had any ideas to reduce spending, Cobb said perhaps the state should privatize student housing.