Tax credits will help university with deferred maintenance

? Starting July 1, Kansas University will have a new tool to use when trying to solve its deferred maintenance problem: tax credits.

In last year’s legislative session, the state approved $158 million worth of tax credits over five years to those who give money to combat deferred maintenance. At the Kansas Board of Regents meeting Wednesday, the first year’s $5.6 million worth of credits for the six state universities and Washburn were approved.

The regents used the estimate of gross square footage in need of maintenance to appropriate $1.5 million to KU and $588,471 to KU Medical Center.

Regent Jill Docking, also a vice president of A.G. Edwards investment firm in Wichita, said the proposal was a “good deal” for people looking to make a donation.

“But there’s no question it’s not very sexy to put your name on a sewer rather than a building,” she said.

But Theresa Gordzica, KU’s chief financial officer, said there’s an uncommon part of the legislation that may make the tax credits more appealing. In addition to receiving a tax credit, which directly reduces a person’s Kansas tax liability, the donation can also be used to reduce a person’s income.

She gave this example: A person who donates $100 to deferred maintenance at KU would receive a $50 tax credit as well as $100 off their taxable income.

Essentially, if that person made $50,000 and had $30,000 in taxable income leading to a $1,000 tax bill, the person would owe less than $950 because of their donation.

“It would also reduce your federal taxable income,” Gordzica said.

The legislation also allows a person or organization without a taxable income – a nonprofit, for instance – to sell their tax credit to someone else. Essentially they could donate $100,000 but recoup up to $50,000 of that donation in selling their tax credit.

“We’re still talking about the best way to market that,” Gordzica said.

But there’s time. The universities can’t hand out these tax credits until the next fiscal year begins on July 1.