South Carolina panel fields 31 requests for $60.5M in boosted infrastructure spending
(The Center Square) – The South Carolina General Assembly’s Joint Bond Review Committee Capital Improvements Subcommittee fielded 31 proposals Tursday seeking an additional $60.528 million in funding beyond amounts budgeted for $200 million in projects.
Nine requests from six higher education institutions seeking an additional $51.277 million in funding from bonds and trust funds for $167.8 million in planned projects were submitted to the panel. Eleven state departments and agencies forwarded 22 “budget adjustment requests,” seeking an additional $9.528 million in funding above the $2.584 million budgeted for $32.153 million in permanent improvements.
Proposals that get the preliminary nod from the 10-member joint committee, which is led by both chambers’ budget committee chairs, move onto the State Fiscal Accountability Authority for additional vetting before being presented to lawmakers. Some of the allocations and projects already have been approved, meaning many of the requests for “budget adjustments” are ultimately resolved by shifting around planned annual allocations.
The largest boost in funding is from the College of Charleston, which submitted three requested adjustments, totaling $39.82 million above the $680,000 allocated for projects.
The largest of the three College of Charleston requested funding boosts is $31.52 million to repair moisture intrusion/damage and indoor air quality issues at the university’s McAlister Hall. The project was budgeted $480,000 this year but with $31.52 million, the $32 million repair project would be finished by 2023.
The college is seeking to access money in its Campus Housing Revenue Fund and Capital Improvement Project Fund to accelerate the project.
Coastal Carolina University is requesting a $4.925 million adjustment in its $75,000 budget for renovating the HVAC system in Eaglin Residence Hall from University Housing Renovation Reserve Funds to complete what is estimated to be a $5 million project.
The University of South Carolina (USC) is requesting an adjustment of $4.432 million for its $4.5 million plan to replace its medical school campus on Garners Ferry Road with a $300 million facility at the BullStreet District, which the joint bond review panel already has tentatively approved.
The university’s board of trustees voted in March to allocate $4.2 million toward the proposed 16-acre site, which would include a 130,000-square-foot medical building and a separate 162,000-square-foot research building and lab, but allocated only $67,500 this year to the multiyear effort.
USC will tap into its Clinical Revenue Funds to fund the new medical school campus.
“The project is not expected to result in any change in annual operating expenditures,” the university said.
Among state agencies and departments seeking funding requests, the Department of Administration and Department of Natural Resources (DNR) submitted the most significant requests for adjustments.
The Department off Administration’s three requests seek $2.335 million in additional funding for projects allocated $18,500 this year, including more than $2.136 million to replace the original plumbing in the House of Representatives’ chamber
Among DNR’s three “adjustment” requests is $2.56 million to purchase 847.64 acres in northwestern Greenville County to expand the Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area.
The state had earmarked a $20,000 contribution to the purchase in this year’s budget. The boosted funding, to come from DNR’s Forest Legacy Administrative Grant Funds, Forest Legacy Program Grant Funds, Fish & Wildlife Protection – Timber Funds and Fish & Wildlife Protection – Deer Fund, will complete the $2.76 million acquisition of the land offered by Naturaland Trust of Greenville.
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