The Joint Capital Improvement Committee heard from Delaware colleges and universities Wednesday. They say they need millions in deferred maintenance costs.
Delaware State University’s original capital funding request to state lawmakers last fall was $7 million.
But now the historically black university says it actually needs $100 million.
DSU Acting President Wilma Mishoe said that only covers a portion of the school’s $250 million backlog of deferred maintenance needs.
“Things are serious," she said. "And every day that I walk on that campus, I just look and shudder. But things are serious.”
While DSU has the ability to finance some of the costs, Mishoe said the school is limited in what it can borrow right now. She said if DSU was a car, it’d close to breaking down.
“It’s just like when you take care of your car," she said. "If you don’t take care of it when it first starts to rattle, then it becomes a bigger problem later on.”
The University of Delaware, which is asking for about $66 million, also has bonding authority. Most of that would go toward a new building and maintenance.
Delaware Tech, which cannot issue bonds, is seeking nearly $13 million for deferred maintenance.
Delaware has about $350 million more revenue to work with this year compared to last year. But a lot of organizations and state agencies want some of that money.
