The University of Hawaii is considering halting new construction projects across the university system until it can rein in a repair and maintenance backlog that has ballooned to nearly a half-billion dollars.
The idea was presented at Thursday’s Board of Regents meeting by Regent Benjamin Kudo, who said an "interim self-imposed moratorium" on new construction would give the board breathing room to address the needed repairs.
"My concern was if we spent too much of our efforts to approve new projects, that it would somehow affect our ability to take care of the back of the house," Kudo said. "We’ve neglected too long to take care of our physical plant."
He likened the university to a house with a shiny, new front porch and a rear that’s deteriorating.
"The goal or objective of this particular proposal is to redirect our priorities to reduce the deferred maintenance and repair balance," Kudo said. "We need to have a safe facility and a facility that doesn’t present health problems or safety problems to (students) and where it’s conducive to learning."
Repair and maintenance needs across the 10-campus system total $487 million, with 84 percent of that, or $407 million, on the flagship Manoa campus. Some of the repair needs date from the 1990s.
Meanwhile, large construction projects in recent years have included the $120 million Cancer Research Center that opened this year in Kakaako, a $43 million Information Technology Center under construction on the Manoa campus, a $24 million science building completed this year on the UH-Maui College campus and a $14 million innovation facility under construction at Leeward Community College.
Other projects in the design phase include the College of Pharmacy at UH-Hilo ($28 million), an administration building for the new UH-West Oahu campus ($19 million) and the Culinary Institute of the Pacific at Kapiolani Community College ($32 million).
Kudo acknowledged that new facilities are needed, "but we must cut somewhere in order to fix the house," he said.
"All new buildings, all new proposals, are worthy, and it’s difficult for us to say no, but at some point we have to delay or hold off and slow down so that we have a chance to catch up," he said.
Kudo said his plan would include exceptions, but likened them to holes in an umbrella: "The more you have and the larger the holes are, the more useless your umbrella becomes. And I caution that the more exemptions that we have and broader that they are, they make our efforts to really address this problem of no consequence."
Interim UH President David Lassner called the word "moratorium" scary but said the university agrees the backlog needs to be addressed.
Lassner cited concerns about other campuses potentially suffering when the bulk of the repairs are needed on the Manoa campus. He said he hopes that decisions would be made in the best interest of individual campuses if a moratorium is in place.
Regent Barry Mizuno volunteered to vet the proposal through a public meeting of the Planning and Facilities Committee, which he chairs, saying he thinks it’s worthy of discussion.
Kudo said he’d like to have the full board make a decision at the regents’ Nov. 21 meeting — its last meeting of the year — to be held at the UH-Maui College campus.
"This is a difficult decision for us, but I think we, as regents, have to make difficult decisions during hard times," Kudo said.
The UH administration has also come up with a proposal to eliminate the backlog using revenue bonds that would be repaid over time with student tuition.
The university would issue about $440 million in revenue bonds over six years to make the needed repairs, but that will require annual debt payments of about $28 million in tuition revenue for the next 30 years.
While some regents are uncomfortable going that route, the board voted Thursday to approve the university’s overall budget request for next year, which includes the revenue bond proposal.
On the operations side, UH plans to ask lawmakers for an additional $53.7 million in general funds, with the bulk of the money needed for faculty salary increases already on the books.
UH is seeking $33.5 million for faculty pay increases tied to its six-year contract with the University of Hawaii Professional Assembly: $14 million for multiyear salary restorations and $19.5 million for 3 percent raises this year and next year.
Part of the request also includes $250,000 to help lift Manoa’s athletics program out of the red.
The budget request would be on top of the approximately $385 million in general funds legislators approved for UH last session for the upcoming 2014-15 year. The Legislature, which enacts two-year budgets, will take up the so-called supplemental state budget in January.
