Tax credit plan not paying off for state’s universities / LJWorld.com

Archive for Monday, June 8, 2009

June 8, 2009

Topeka — Tax credits, which were touted as a major source to pay for repairs and renovations at state universities, have so far been off the mark.

“This really hasn’t taken off,” said Eric King, director of facilities for the Kansas Board of Regents.

To address a backlog of deferred maintenance projects at the state’s institutions of higher learning, the Legislature in 2007 approved a bill that included several financing components.

One offered state-funded tax credits that at the time officials said were expected to generate an estimated $158 million in private contributions. Under the deal, a person or corporation making a contribution for deferred maintenance to a university would receive a tax credit in the amount of 60 percent of the contribution.

One year after the five-year offering of tax credits took effect, it has not generated much money. So far, the total of donations received under the program is $862,220. That barely registers when the state is looking at a maintenance backlog of $825 million in projects.

King and legislators said there is not much interest in the program because the economy is so bad right now.

Sen. Laura Kelly, D-Topeka, added that there is little cachet in donating money for maintenance work.

“It’s hard to make a tax credit for a boiler,” she said at a recent meeting of the Joint Committee on State Building Construction.

The deferred maintenance program also includes state funding, bonds and interest earned on some university funds.

So far, about $26.2 million has been spent with most of that money going toward standard maintenance such as repairs to roofs, plumbing and utilities.

Kansas University has focused on improvements to its utility tunnels, as well as repairs at Wescoe Hall, Haworth Hall and Malott Hall. KU Medical Center in Kansas City, Kan., is replacing and repairing major utility equipment and systems.