Proposal offers university unexpected funding to cover maintenance costs
USC administrators often cite more than $500 million in maintenance projects that can’t be funded, but a 2011-2012 state budget proposed by a S.C. House committee could fix some problems.
In the proposal, USC’s general appropriations are planned for a 15.4 percent cut — or $16.7 million — said Luanne Lawrence, USC’s vice president for communications. But the same proposal has $9.1 million in unexpected deferred maintenance funds for USC. If passed, those funds are one-time appropriations that must be used for maintenance.
“Legislators had talked about wanting to be supportive of those needs, but we assumed in a bad budget year it wouldn’t be possible,” Lawrence said. “The fact that it could happen this year is a pleasant surprise.”
There are broken partition doors in the Russell House Ballroom that need a $100,000 fix, but there’s no money available for the project, said Jerry Brewer, USC’s associate vice president for student affairs.
Across campus, roofs leak and need patches. Coats of paint are chipping off buildings. Windows in some buildings don’t close properly.
Maintenance projects are submitted for request by individual colleges and departments around campus, and USC administrators meet immediate needs. But in austere budget times, many of the projects are postponed, USC’s vice president for finance and planning Ted Moore said last month.
USC spokeswoman Margaret Lamb said USC President Harris Pastides and the Board of Trustees would decide which projects to fund if the budget is passed.
The currently proposed state budget still has a ways to go. It must first be approved by the full House and Senate and signed into law by Gov. Nikki Haley. The House will take up the budget the week of March 14 and the Senate will in late April.
And in a budget year when legislators are grappling with a $827 million shortfall and almost every state agency will see substantial cuts, there will surely be substantial debate on budget bills.