KBOR > News > 2004 > Release

September 23, 2004
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 4, 2004

BOARD UPDATES LEGISLATURE ON IMPORTANT MAINTENANCE NEEDS

State University Campuses Need $584 Million To Address Critical Maintenance Issues

(TOPEKA) – Today the Kansas Board of Regents submitted a "Report on State University Deferred Maintenance and Capital Renewal" to the Kansas Legislative Budget Committee. The recently completed report outlines important maintenance needs on the six state university campuses that have been deferred due to a lack of state funding. The current maintenance backlog is $584 million and growing.

Two out of every three buildings that the State of Kansas owns can be found on the six state university campuses. Kansas taxpayers own 537 academic/administrative buildings, commonly referred to as educational and general (E&G) buildings, on the six state university campuses. These buildings exclude auxiliary facilities such as residence halls, student unions and parking garages. These 537 E&G buildings represent 20 million square feet that are sited on 2,250 maintained acres. The replacement value of these buildings, including utilities and infrastructure, is $3.9 billion.

The primary factors leading to the current state of deferred maintenance on the university campuses is a lack of funding coupled with the age of the buildings. Eighty percent of the total building inventory is at least 20 years old. The 1960’s through the 1980’s were periods of huge growth for all of higher education. Like many institutions across the nation, nearly 40% of the state university space was built within that 20-year time frame. This major expansion was initiated by unprecedented enrollment growth due to the "Baby Boom" generation. Now, some 20-40 years later, these buildings require simultaneous overhaul of their major subsystems.

"Heating, ventilation, electrical and plumbing systems, if they have not already been replaced, are either worn out or are about to wear out," said Eric King, Director of Facilities for the Kansas Board of Regents. "This isn’t because they haven’t been maintained, it is simply because the systems have reached the end of their useful life. The average lifecycle of the components that make up buildings is 23 years."

During this past summer and early fall, facilities audits were performed on the 537 campus E&G buildings by Board staff and a private facilities management consultant. The findings, included in the report submitted to the Legislative Budget Committee, estimate that the deferred maintenance backlog on the six university campuses is approximately $584 million. This problem is not unique to Kansas. Nationwide deferred maintenance backlog estimates vary from $26 billion, which is acknowledged to be conservative, to over $50 billion.

Maintenance backlog on the six state university campuses is as follows:

Kansas State University $209.4 million
The University of Kansas $168.5 million
The University of Kansas Medical Center $68.8 million
Pittsburg State University $39.8 million
Fort Hays State University $35.2 million
Wichita State University $33.9 million
Emporia State University $28.9 million

"To prevent further backlog, $74 million per year is required, without factoring inflation, to adequately maintain the university campuses," said King. "If this problem is not addressed, today’s deferred maintenance backlog of $584 million will grow to nearly $800 million by fiscal year 2014."

For more information contact:
Kip Peterson, Director for Government Relations & Communications, at (785) 296-3421.

Visit the Kansas Board of Regents on the Web at www.kansasregents.org.