‘U’ to request $77 million in bonding this year

The University of Minnesota seeks almost $80 million in state borrowing this year for facility maintenance and upgrades across its five-campus system, school officials told a House committee Thursday.

Vice President of University Services Pamela Wheelock reviewed the university’s $77 million 2015 capital project request with the House Capital Investment Committee, telling legislators continuous maintenance and improvements are needed to maintain affordability and attract faculty and students to the system’s campuses in the Twin Cities, Crookston, Duluth, Morris and Rochester.

Wheelock told the committee the university request includes:

• $55 million for Higher Education Asset Preservation and Replacement to make improvements to health, safety and accessibility, building systems, utility infrastructure and energy efficiency across the university’s 29 million square feet of labs, clinics, classrooms and public spaces;
• $18 million to replace a pair of veterinary isolation laboratories that Wheelock told lawmakers is “an impediment to advancing our program,” with a new facility in St. Paul; and
• $4 million to help fund the replacement of a 45-year-old greenhouse on the St. Paul campus that doesn’t meet the university’s space needs for research and teaching.

Large capital investment bills are typically passed during the second year of the biennium, though Rep. Paul Torkelson (R-Hanska), the committee chair, has said he expects a bonding bill of some sort this session.

The state’s current budget assumes a bonding bill of around $225 million this year; Gov. Mark Dayton said this week he would propose borrowing $850 million for capital investments in 2015.