Date: 12/02/2009
Final
Colorado Commission on Higher Education
COMMITTEE ON CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT
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08:21 AM -- Colorado Commission on Higher Education -- Presentation of FY 2010-11 Capital Budget Requests
The committee was called to order. Dr. Patricia Pacey, Commissioner, Colorado Commission on Higher Education (CCHE), and Mr. Dan Krug, Financial and Compliance Analyst, Department of Higher Education (DHE), presented CCHE's prioritized list of FY 2010-11 higher education institution capital budget requests. Commissioner Pacey explained how CCHE prioritized projects for FY 2010-11. She listed the factors considered during the prioritization, including: (1) if a project was included in House Joint Resolution 08-1042; (2) if an institution provided a cash contribution; (3) institutional priority rankings; (4) the Governor's Office of State Planning and Budgeting's (OSPB) published budget criteria; and (5) the condition and use of affected facilities. Commissioner Pacey explained that higher education institutions submitted cash requests in a new format for FY 2010-11: a Two-Year Projection of Cash Need.
Mr. Krug gave the committee a comparison of the total requests from higher education institutions from state and cash sources. He explained that for FY 2010-11 higher education institutions are asking for $800 million in state funds and bringing forward over a billion in cash funds, including more than $100 million in federal funds. Mr. Krug told the committee that higher education institutions are trying to fill the gap in state funding, and that schools are aware that there is a shortage of available state funds for capital projects.
08:31 AM
Discussion ensued about the use of student fees for capital construction. Commissioner Pacey addressed a question about the inclusion of projects listed in House Joint Resolution 08-1042 on the priority list, and told the committee that these projects are also listed separately on a Federal Mineral Lease (FML) list. She said that if FML revenue becomes available, these projects will be recommended for funding, but that the projects are also included on the CCHE prioritized list of FY 2010-11 projects. Discussion continued about the prioritization of higher education projects. In response to a question, Mr. Krug explained that a building's facility condition index score is a factor in the prioritization of state-funded requests. He then explained that institutions spent about $73 million from institutional cash sources on controlled maintenance during the last fiscal year.
08:40 AM
Discussion continued about spending for controlled maintenance. Commissioner Pacey told the committee that many of the FY 2010-11 state-funded requests will renovate existing facilities, and if these requests are funded it will reduce future controlled maintenance needs and outyear operating expenses. Discussion returned to how projects were ranked on the CCHE prioritized list of FY 2010-11 projects. Mr. Krug responded to questions about institutional spending for controlled maintenance and the use of student fees for capital construction and controlled maintenance.