UW gets a few more buildings, but still being shortchanged

In addition to signing off on K-12 funding for 2017-19, Wisconsin’s Joint Finance Committee also had another notable bit of action yesterday. The JFC unanimously agreed to add over $209 million in building projects to Scott Walker’s budget, bringing the total amount to a cool $1 billion. Most of that new funding went to the UW System, and a large amount of that went to one particular campus.

The state legislature's budget committee approved $55 million in funding for a new school of engineering building at UW-Platteville, which is expected to produce an additional 800 graduates each year.

The current engineering hall on campus is 50 years-old.

UW-Platteville officials told members of the budget committee during a public hearing at the school in April, the current facility is simply outdated.

They believe the new "Sesquicentennial Hall" can add enough new classroom space to allow more students into the engineering program.

Platteville also got $23.7 million to add on and renovate Boebel Hall, which holds science and math classes on the campus. Even more impressive is that both of those Platteville projects would be entirely funded by borrowing money and paying it back with General Fund tax dollars over the next 20+ years.

Wispolitics also notes a few other UW projects at other campuses were restored yesterday with the JFC’s actions, including a couple in Madison.

$35.9 million to renovate Wyllie Hall at UW-Parkside.

*$32.7 million for utility repairs on UW-Madison’s Lathrop Drive/Bascom HIll.

*$23.7 million for a parking lot replacement at UW-Madison.

The parking lot near the UW Vet School and Natatorium will be paid for through user fees, as will an addition to UW-Eau Claire’s Governor’s Hall and an add-on to River Falls' May Hall. The rest will mostly be paid for through taxpayer-funded borrowing. There were also a couple of other minor projects added to the Capital Budget yesterday- a boiler replacement at Mendota Mental health Center, $7 million for a “Geriatric Prison Facility” (location to be determined), and $1 million for some kind of work in the basement of the Capitol (Dems on the committee asked what that was about, since the motion adding the items didn't say, and co-chair Alberta Darling said she wasn’t sure).

Those total a combined $13.7 million, but are dwarfed by the added UW projects. In all, JFC added $195.4 million in UW building projects yesterday, but even with that action, the 2017-19 budget has the smallest amount of money dedicated to UW facilities by $100 million compared to any other budget in the last decade, using this information from the Legislative Fiscal Bureau.

UW building projects, 2007-2019 (after JFC action)
2007-09 $658,988,000
2009-11 $931,031,600
2011-13 $420,529,000
2013-15 $703,764,000
2015-17 $451,934,000
2017-19 $323,697,000

So we’re spending the lowest amount on UW buildings by $97 million compared to any other biennium over the last 12 years. And that’s assuming Walker doesn’t veto any of these projects if/when the budget reaches his desk (not out of the question as some kind of BS resentment play). So while it is nice that the Joint Finance Committee recognized that Walker had shortchanged UW's faciltiies and decided to do some improvement and upkeep, I don't think we should break out the party hats. And the deferred costs on other projects will likely drive up the price tag for the next round of maintenance and improvements.