Topeka ? A House committee chaired by Lawrence Republican Tom Sloan introduced a bill Thursday that would provide up to $100 million a year in additional money for colleges and universities in Kansas to upgrade and maintain their buildings and infrastructure.

The bill was introduced one day after the Kansas Board of Regents heard a report detailing a backlog of $829 million worth of deferred maintenance needs at the state’s six universities, 19 community colleges and six technical colleges.

It was introduced in Sloan’s Vision 2020 Committee, but it was immediately referred to the House Taxation Committee, which is controlled by fiscal conservatives who typically oppose any kind of tax increase.

“It was going to be a tough sell to begin with,” Sloan said. “I have an appointment with the chairman (Rep. Marvin Kleeb, R-Overland Park) next week.”

Currently the state levies a statewide property tax of 1 mill for its Educational Building Fund which pays for maintenance and upkeep of facilities at colleges and universities. One mill equals $11.50 in tax on a home valued at $100,000.

That generates about $31 million a year, which the institutions combine with private funds to finance the projects they need.

Regents president and CEO Andy Tompkins said that, all told, the schools have access to about $80 million a year, which he said is about $20 million less than they need just to pay for what he called “mission-critical” projects.

Under Sloan’s bill, that levy could go as high as 4 mills, or $46 a year in tax on a $100,000 home. But the Regents would first have to submit a list of projects and their expected costs to the Department of Revenue, which would then determine where the property tax levy would need to be set in order to generate the amount needed.

Officials in the Legislature’s nonpartisan Research Department said if the full additional 3 mills were levied, that would generate about $94.5 million beginning in fiscal year 2017 and a total of $412 million over five years.

In addition to funding building and facility maintenance needs, Sloan’s bill would also authorize schools to use the additional money to expand their broadband capacity, human and plant genome research, and aviation research.

“There are some projects that are important to me because they’re important to faculty members when I talk to them,” Sloan said. “The money can also be used for other things. That’s my clear intention in that bill.”