With a non-existent state fund for repairs, the University of Wisconsin will have a harder time keeping campus functional in the coming years.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that the entire UW System needs $2 billion to complete repairs that have been delayed due to state budget cuts. UW alone needs nearly a third of that to complete differed campus repairs while also completing scheduled projects.
The backlog of needed repairs at UW is roughly $750 million, according to Steve Wagner, spokesperson for the department of Facilities Planning and Management.
Of the approximate $750 million of repairs in backlog on UW’s campus, nearly $640 million, or 83.4 percent, is earmarked for academic facilities, including: instruction, office, student service and library spaces.
The remaining repairs reported relate to non-academic facilities, such as housing, parking or recreational facilities.
To help fund repairs at UW and the 25 other campus totaling $2 billion, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported the system is asking the state for $713.3 million in the next biennial budget. It’s also expected to request the state give the Board of Regents the power to oversee program-funded projects.
While Wagner emphasized that none of UW’s buildings are currently in disrepair, budgets in recent years have pushed the department to prioritize certain projects over others to ensure the campus continues to operate at the level it’s expected to.
“We want to do the maintenance when it needs to be done and not sooner and not later,” Wagner said.
Traditionally, Wagner said, the the state’s biennial capital budget includes a line item allocating a certain amount of money to what are called “all agency projects.”
These “all agency projects,” according to the System’s website, can encompass everything from maintenance to repair to renovation or minor remodeling of facilities across the UW System.
But in the 2015-17 budget, Wagner said, the line item was zero.
“The amount of money that traditionally the System gets — and Madison gets a portion of that — in the 15-17 biennium budget, it just wasn’t there at all,” Wagner said.“So that’s sort of our most recent challenge.”
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Predominantly, Wagner said, items like building exterior repairs are having to be carefully weighed to prioritize the most pressing first.
Everything from windows, walls, doors and roof repairs, as well as sidewalk and road repairs where the university is responsible need to be assessed, Wagner said.
“I think the bottom line is that our deferred maintenance continues to grow,” Wagner said. “[But] we’re working with the system to fund and allocate that in the most efficient way based on what we have available.”
