If you ignore the problem, it will only get bigger.

That’s the message the Kansas Board of Regents is sending with its latest report indicating that the cost of building repairs at the state’s six public universities has climbed by $143 million since 2004.

“Delay in addressing this issue is costly, and we need to step up and try to come to grips with it,” said Regents President Reggie Robinson.

The Board of Regents will review a new “deferred maintenance” report at the board’s meeting today in Topeka.

Dwindling financial support has caused buildings and classrooms on the university campuses to deteriorate.

At Kansas University, the repair list totals $209 million with another $76 million needed at KU Medical Center.

KU officials in recent months have given tours to the media and lawmakers, pointing to broken retaining walls, rusty lab spaces, warped ceiling tiles, uneven floors and crumbling sidewalks.

“It’s getting more urgent,” KU Provost Richard Lariviere said. “It’s one of those things – if you don’t fix the leak in the roof, the house starts falling apart.”

A 2004 report found that the universities needed $584 million to address the list of needed repairs and $74 million was needed for annual facility maintenance. Two years later, the bottom line is $727 million, with $84 million needed for annual upkeep.

The bottom line figures have risen in part because the buildings have gotten older, construction costs have increased and more building space has been added to the list, according to the Regents.

Eric King, Regents facilities director, said the colleges have received about $15 million per year, a fraction of the $74 million that the Regents in 2004 said was needed for annual upkeep.

“That increases the backlog,” he said. “You need to be spending $74 million or $84 million and you’re only spending $15 million. The difference goes into the backlog because there are things that aren’t getting done.”

Last year, the Regents proposed a plan – squelched by the Legislature – to raise taxes to deal with the problem.

As a new legislative session nears, Regents are pressing their case again.

“Last year was an election year,” Regent Donna Shank said. “We knew that nothing would happen last year, but we knew that we had to raise the issue and bring it forward. We are really hopeful that this year something might be done because (state) revenues look good and this is not an election year.”

Shank said the biggest challenge is finding the funding to make repairs.

“The obstacle is always money,” she said. “That is a huge amount of money, and there is no way that the state can just write a check to address that problem. It’s going to take a long-term solution, and it’s going to take additional revenue. And to find that kind of revenue is not going to be easy.”