Date: 22 Dec. ‘06
TO: City Council
County Commission
Selected Community Leaders
South Central Kansas Legislative Delegation
Selected Legislators
Board of Regents
FROM: Shocker Black & Golds
Remember the 20 year damage to our university and the miserable failure of the Board of Regents to correct the damage the KU Board of Regents caused in the first instance.
BARE BONES
• On Dec. 12th president Beggs announced on TV that he intends to increase the scholarships on the mill levy another $900,000. Who appointed president Beggs tax Tzar of Wichita Sedgwick County? Upon what authority did he receive permission to increase the number of scholarships on the mill levy another $900,000. We already have 2000 scholarships on the mill levy – buying students one at a time to cover president Beggs miserable failure to solve the fundamental problem of loss of traditional students because of lack of a traditional football program. Returning football would have the synergistic effect of appealing to traditional students who would than stay home at lesser costs, and attend WSU without being bribed with a mill levy scholarship.
• President Beggs has no legal authority to dictate the use of the mill levy, he can only request line items, and it is up to our City and County representatives [They are not WSU representatives, but are legally obligated to represent Wichita/Sedgwick County citizens] to reasonably determine the uses of our tax dollars.
• Tax Tzar president Beggs treats the tax paying public with arrogant condescension, like we are potted plants and tax cows to be milked at will with the collusion of his knee jerk support of the majority of our representatives on the City Council and County Commission. By his tax policy, tax Tzar president Beggs forces us to pay for the college tuition of our neighbor’s kids, which procedure was never contemplated, authorized, or voted on by Wichita/Sedgwick County tax payers in the 1963 referendum on WSU, in the first instance.
• In the FY 2006 budget, we had $2,721,241 in general scholarships supporting 2090 students, out of 14,229 students, or 14.7 percent of our students on scholarship. The mill levy supported 83.5 percent of those scholarships, or $2,272,236 supporting 1683 students. Recently the university announced adding another 500 student scholarships to the mill levy, with now some 18.2 percent of our students on scholarship, and increasing exponentially. Now the president, as City/County tax tzar, is unilaterally without any authority from the City or County that we know of, improperly expropriating another $900,000 in scholarships to the mill levy. His rationale is that the prior giveaways of tuition moneys was “so successful”, he just had to giveaway another $900,000; but not mind you for football scholarships, that have the ability to draw additional traditional students to the university that pay their own tuition.
• One would think another 85 athletic scholarships wouldn’t make much difference. But we continue to lose traditional students because we do not solve the root cause of the loss of traditional students, and president Beggs covers his loss of student problem, by using our money to buy students. So last year we had 1,683 students on mill levy scholarships, and this year some 2000, with another $900,000 worth coming next year; but we can’t have 85 athletic scholarships for football, to draw other traditional students to the university, a mere 4.3 percent to date, of the total students on mill levy supported scholarships; because we submit, president Beggs, now in a desperate attempt to hid his 20 year old bleeding loss of traditional student problem, rather than solving the root cause of the problem, can’t get chancellor Hemenway’s permission to return football to WSU.
• The last fiscal year of president Hughes, he requested $7,091 for the contingency line item. President Beggs in his first year, 1999, increased the contingency line item 66.9 times, to $474,356. This was we submit an unconscionable and unexplained increase. But it did provide a honey pot for president Beggs to shuffle without proper disclosure of the actual expenditures.
• In 8 years of Beggs tenure we have line item budgeted $4,323,653 for contingency and the university shows actually spent in some manner $2,587,382 with a delta difference of $1,736,221 perhaps transferred to Don Beggs “President’s contingency fund” not listed on the mill levy to my knowledge. No one can say how the carry over contingency was spent, or for that matter, how any of the $4,323,653 in budgeted contingency was spent. Perhaps that is why president Beggs is now stridently trying to paint and present the contingency line item as a scholarship fund, so as to camouflage and not disclose its past usage.
• On December 14th, at a Board of Regents meeting we attended, president Beggs sought on the Board’s consent agenda, approval for two projects: Amend FY 2007 Rehabilitation & Repairs/President’s Residence; and Amend FY 2007 Capital Improvement Request – WSU. As to the first request, it is stated:
“Wichita State University requests approval to amend its list of Rehabilitation and Repair projects for FY 2007 to include the addition to and remodeling of the President’s Residence. .... “The project involves the addition of 2,000 square feet of new space and remodeling on the main level of the home. The building addition will accommodate the hosting of social events for supporters of the University and will include space for supporting facilities including a catering kitchen, restroom and storage. .... “The estimated cost of construction and other associated costs is $525,000. The project will be totally funded from private gifts administered through the WSU Foundation.” (Emphasis added).
• On Sunday the 17th of December, the Eagle disclosed the existing presidents house is 7,034 square feet, with the last renovation accomplished by president Beggs in 2001. The article also states:
“King (Elizabeth King, WSU Foundation president and chief executive) hopes to raise between $650,000 and $750,000 in donations to pay for the addition. ... “The president has a dining room now that seats 16 or 20.” ... “The addition should be complete in late August, King said.” (Emphasis added).
• Lets see, on the 14th its $525,000 for both the construction and associated costs, but 3 days later on the 17th, its $650,000 to $750,000 to pay for the addition. Which is it Ms King? What’s another $125 to $225 thousand? When is it can we count and rely on what it is the university has to say about funding, of almost anything?
• Also on the December 14th Board of Regent Agenda was the FY 2008 Rehabilitation and Repair Appropriation – Systemwide Budget, in which Wichita State identified $60,000 on “Cessna Stadium Press box Roof Replacement” and $14,000 on “Cessna Stadium Expansion Joint Study”. At the meeting, this request was eliminated, and the $74,000 transferred for use to refurbish the president’s residence. So, contrary to Elizabeth King’s statement to the Eagle, at least $74,000 in state tax money will be used to renovate the president’s house, that does not constitute a “donation”. But then no one will be seen to have any concern if its all just gifts of folks who want to give, and no part of which is state money, or mill levy money.
• Because the president refuses to properly account for mill levy line item founding, and because he considers carry over mill levy line item moneys and contingency moneys, his moneys “Its my money”, how is it do we know that mill levy money is not being used for the project? Please tell us. After all, mill levy money is gift money, as we are not legally obligated to continue the mill levy, once we paid off the 1964 then existing capital improvements debt of some 1.5 million on the round house, which debt was paid off decades ago.
• If room enough for 20 people at a sit down dinner, is not sufficient, why not use the huge meeting rooms in the Campus Activities Center, where there is more available parking than around the president’s house. The baseball Battery Club of over 200 folks is annually catered to in the top level Eck stadium club room, and Koch Arena has a large club room they use for catering and meeting purposes. Or why not the new Marcus Welcome Center meeting rooms, or the Golf course club house which was used for a South Central Kansas Legislative Delegation catered meeting I once attended? Or perhaps the expansion of the Alumni building with its meeting rooms and Ms. Kings’ new offices presently under construction? Why not use these existing facilities with their available parking?
• Evidently 7,034 square feet isn’t big enough; the president needs over 9,000 square feet to party in. Most of us poor tax paying WSU graduates live and party in a paltry 2000 square feet or so. We have front yards 2000 square feet or less.
• And if you don’t know where the money is coming from yet, and have no bids yet, how is it can you advise it will be completed in August, and president Beggs can advise the Board of Regents that the exact associated cost is “$525,000". And when you say “donations”, is it president Beggs making the “donation”, with carry over mill levy line item money – perhaps sort of like laundering – he then considers private money, his money. In fact, he even considers the whole mill levy as: “Its my money”. We taxpayers have nothing to do with it, or to say about it, except that is, to provide the money. But who knows, as no proper accounting has occurred, is available, or is anywhere on the near horizon, that we know of; notwithstanding our formal public requests to WSU, the City Council, and the County Commission. If you want tax Tzar president Beggs to continue to control the City Council with knee jerk council support, vote for Carl Brewer as Mayor, my representative T-Rex Sue Slapp, and WSU student Paul Gray. If on the other hand you think there should be a proper accounting, vote for Mayor Mayans who has tried to obtain a proper accounting, and whoever runs against Sue Slapp and Paul Gray.
• As to the second project, the request to amend the FY 2007 State’s Board of Regents Capital Improvement Budget, the request was not for WSU to receive any moneys from the state for capital improvements, but was rather, thus:
“Wichita State University requests that the budget for the Engineering Research Laboratory Building be amended from $10,000,000 to $12,058,924. The increase is prompted by (1) the escalating costs in construction materials and (2) the University’s plan to increase the amount of funding for research equipment. The increase in equipment funding is to ensure that the laboratories are properly equipped to develop research grants to generate sufficient Sponsored Research Overhead Funds to pay the required debt service on the $10,000,000 in revenue bonds. Funding for the increase will be provided from mill levy funds accumulated for such overrun and from existing Sponsored Research Overhead Funds.” (Emphasis added).
• We suspect the amount of “Sponsored Research Overhead Funds” to be small, and that in essence, the funding will be by the mill levy. Of course, this funding has not been submitted to the City or County, and has not been approved by the City or County. Apparently president Beggs believes he has control of the City Council and the County Commission, and its just a matter of submitting his request. Or, in the alternative, he has already “accumulated” the funds from the mill levy, and the City and County just doesn’t know that it has occurred.
• Query: when is it did the City and County knowledgeably even agree to provide the capital improvement funds for the building of the new engineering lab buildings? These new engineering lab buildings appear to be totally financed on the mill levy with clearly zero, nada, no support from state funds whatsoever, while KU has already received $130,000,000 in state funds towards $185,000,000 in projects presently completed, on pace for $306 million towards $435 million of approved projects, on the current State Board of Regents Capital Improvements Budget. So when they divide up the loaves and fishes on the State’s Board of Regents Capital Improvements Budget, there is hundreds of millions for KU, with not even a crumb or minnow for WSU, nothing, nada. The injustice is enough to get angry about. Wars have been caused by less injustice, and over similar tax policy. Nor will president Beggs even ask for any moneys on said Budget. It’s time for president Beggs to be reasonable, represent our university, and relieve himself of any commitment to chancellor Hemenway, the KU folks, and to stand up against the obtuse Board of Regents’ policy; that precludes him from asking for or being allowed moneys on the State’s Board of Regents Capital Improvement Budget; and to cut them off root and branch from this continued benefit of KU with State funds, at the expense of WSU’s fair share.
• Please note that the Board of Regents isn’t even told what “equipment” is being talked about, or how much income it is estimated it could potentially produce. But we do know the mill levy will pay for it in some fashion. And the Board of Regents knows and requires that also.
• Please also note that there exists already “from the mill levy funds accumulated for such overrun”. How did this occur? When and how did the City and County knowledgeably understand they were agreeing to debt service the new engineering lab buildings to the year 2017, as well as “accumulate” mill levy money for overruns for equipment, and equipment yet to be considered or purchased. It may be evidenced in some fashion, but we have reviewed the “Budget Requests” for the last 8 years during president Beggs tenure – the only documents submitted to the City and County according to the City and County – and we presently believe neither the City or County knowledgeably knew, understood, or agreed, to any such specific identification and use of mill levy moneys. Perhaps tax Tzar president Beggs would like to provide a specific accounting of how these moneys were “accumulated” for such purposes and overruns. But then maybe president Beggs can obtain the mill levy funding, without any proper accounting, with his knee jerk supporters on the City Council, and County Commission, as we as tax payers can’t even reasonably obtain a proper accounting of the mill levy line item expenditures, from either WSU by Kansas Open Records Requests, or from the majority of our City & County representatives, notwithstanding our public requests.
• Within the last few months, president Beggs obtained authority from the Board of Regents to transfer $3 million of the approved Bond authority on the new engineering lab buildings to Pittsburg State, and to abrogate another $1 million of authority, to go back to the original some $10 million, as it was explained industry and the university no longer had a need for the equipment being funded by the $4 million in bond authority. Now we are adding back $2,058,924, but we aren’t told how much is for increased costs for construction materials, how much is for new equipment, or even what the new equipment is for, or how much revenue this new equipment is estimated to generate. But it is approved without any comments or explanation by president Beggs to the Board, or any Board questions in the exercise of their responsibility, to president Beggs, but just summarily called on the “consent” agenda, and rotely approved without full comprehension of the Board of Regents, or anyone else, except perhaps president Beggs.
• Please note, that this request identifies mill levy funding for the new engineering lab buildings, and the Board of Regents has only oversight jurisdiction of the mill levy, not line item jurisdiction or authority. Only once a year is the Board to approve or reject the gift, not consider and vote on line items in the mill levy. But this procedure evidences in fact, the Board clearly relies upon the mill levy as justification for not providing WSU proper State funding like all other state institutions. We submit it’s a corrupt process that results in uniquely double taxing Wichita/Sedgwick County residents from all other counties in the state. We also believe the South Central Kansas Legislative Delegation should take action to dictate the use of State appropriations for Capital Improvements this coming year, to include WSU and WSU’s new engineering lab building in process, and correct this profound corrupt injustice.
• We refer to this present tax Tzar dance as the Sedgwick County property tax payers president Beggs shuffle; and we submit, without proper accounting to the City and County officials legally obligated to properly account for our tax moneys, over $6,644,000 last year and increasing. It’s our moneys, not president Beggs. It doesn’t become his money, just because it’s carryover line item money shuffled to the president’s account at the end of the fiscal year; which he appears to then consider his money “It’s my money” to use like he wants, and perhaps considered and given the euphuism “private moneys”. We submit, only a proper accounting by WSU for our property tax mill levy moneys, that president Beggs is legally obligated to accomplish, but is presently stridently stonewalling, can determine the actual application of our tax moneys.
• Also while at the December 14th Board of Regents meeting, we observed the 6 presidents report on the Regents orchestrated full court press campaign for significant millions in State moneys for “Deferred Maintenance”. It seems the regents required the presidents to all get together and brain storm the common talking points and language to use, and methods of instituting a statewide campaign to obtain a “down payment” “in partnership” with the presidents as “good stewards” of our tax dollars, etc. Says president Beggs to the Eagle: “We know our colleagues at the other regents institutions can tell similar stories.” Of course he does, because they were required to put the stories together in an admitted orchestrated statewide campaign in the first instance.
• At the regents meeting the 14th, they were reporting their efforts with communities, business leaders, chamber of commerce groups, lunches and dinners with legislators, requested alumni letters and contacts with the governor and legislators, requested student letters, meetings with media representatives - print, radio, and television, etc., statewide. As stated by president and CEO of the Board, Regie Robinson, at the October 18th Board of Regents meeting from the minutes of the meeting:
“President Robinson elaborated on the lunches being held in state university locations. Due to the decline in state support for university operating budgets, legislators and legislative candidates have been invited to those events and following a luncheon briefing, the individuals are given a tour of the respective campus to make them aware of the deferred maintenance challenges. The events have been held at Pittsburg State University, KSU-Salina, and Emporia State University. Mr. Robinson indicated he was pleased with the attendance at each event and thanked Kip Peterson and the campus representatives for their coordination efforts. He labeled the events as a successful vehicle to place the deferred maintenance topic on the radar screen of each legislator and candidate. Media representatives also attended, and the deferred maintenance topics received attention via print, radio, and television.”
• The common theme they were all to present, was that it is now their turn and their time to feed at the trough of State moneys. Well, maybe they didn’t come right out and say it quite so straightforwardly, but that was their clear intent. The president of Fort Hays State opined that “its our turn”. He advised that higher education was only getting 29 percent of its support from the state presently, and “its our turn”. He said they wanted 50 percent, but maybe “half to 40 percent would work”. He further stated that the state needed to “fulfill our turn”, and that they needed 185 to 200 million for deferred maintenance. “It’s our turn at bat with the legislature”. He did admit that “business leaders won’t support a tax increase”, including Chamber of Commerce Boards, but that the money to fund their turn at bat might obtain Chamber support, if it was supported by gaming. President Beggs opined that the WSU Board of Trustees, Foundation Board, Alumni Association Board, the Business Bureau, and the president of the Wichita Chamber of Commerce, were strongly in support for “something happening”, but “what this was to be, is yet to be determined”. President Michael Lane of Emporia State University candidly advised: “The Business community is not ready to support a tax increase.” He suggested that the 1 percent of their budgets they are now dedicating to maintenance, should be increased to 4 to 5 percent. KU Chancellor Hemenway emphasized: “We have to humanize this story. We have to involve students to give credibility to it.” (Apparently he doesn’t believe they do). He contended we need support from the state on a reoccurring basis, in the amount of 2.5 to 7.5 percent of the reoccurring balance. President Wefald of K-State was excited about “this campaign”, and said there had “never been anything like this in all my 20 years”. “We had our talking points very concise. We all had the same points. I really think this governor and legislature is going to step up to the plate. (At K-State) He had 30-40 alums write the governor.”
• So there you have it. A clearly orchestrated full court press campaign with all the bells and whistles. But precisely how much money do they want, and how much money does it truly take, and over what time period, to assuage and appease the problem? Apparently a 1.8 billion annual Board of Regents Budget isn’t enough. There isn’t an extra farthing anywhere.
• In a November 1st WSU student newspaper, The Sunflower, article, Reggie Robinson is reported as saying the buildings at Wichita State need $33.9 million worth of repairs; K-State needs $209.4 million worth of building repairs; KU needs $168.5 million, the KU Medical Center requires $68.8 million, ($237.3 million total); Pittsburg State needs $39.8 million; Fort Hays State needs $35.2 million; and Emporia State $28.9 million for repairs. (A total of $584.5 million) President and CEO Robinson also gave as rationale for why WSU only needed $33.9 million: “He also said WSU is a fairly small campus compared to KU and K-State and less geared toward research.” In 42 years the state has not built WSU a single new building, while spending hundreds of million of KU and K-State. Is there any wonder why we should now have a smaller campus? Moreover, as president and CEO of the Board, this KU undergraduate and KU law school graduate, has the audacity to stick us in the ribs with it, as rationale for why we shouldn’t need more than $33.9 million for maintenance. Perhaps instead of fixing a wall in what he calls “Henrion Hall”, the former Henrion gymnasium being presently used by the Art School as a large floor area for messy art work, perhaps now the second oldest building on campus behind Fiske Hall, president Beggs should ask him for permission to tear down their asserted crumbling relic and build a new Art School building. Some 47 years ago, playing basketball in Henrion, I remember thinking Henrion ought to be torn down. And across the street from Henrion, Fisk Hall, the oldest building still standing on campus, we believe, was originally a dormitory for women at the original Fairmount College. Presently it houses a few faculty offices, we believe. Why we should spend significant tax moneys renovating these asserted crumbling relics, as opposed to receiving for the first time in our 42 year history in the state system, sufficient moneys to build replacement buildings, is not discussed or even considered. Robinson also said: ”$15 million per year is used to pay for the maintenance at university campuses, but the need is $72 million.”
• Some five or six days later, on the 6th or 7th of November, on television president Beggs said WSU needed not 33.9 million as president CEO Robinson contended on the 1st, but rather “$44 million”. President Wefald announced K-State needed “$254 million”, not $209.4 million, and Chancellor Hemenway announced KU needed “over $200 million” apparently rather than the $168.5 contended by president CEO Robinson for KU alone not including the KU medical school. They needed a 25 percent “down payment” in the amount of $185 million. Accordingly, the total needed would be $740 million. By the next day, it was reported and contended the need was upwards of $800 million.
• How pray tell can contended decades old deferred maintenance at WSU cost an exact $33.9 million, not a farthing more or less on November 1st, and six days later is suddenly no less than $44 million. In six days, a $10 million dollar jump in exact cost. In six days, a 29.5 percent increase for decades old deferred maintenance. Did they forget 30 percent of the campus or what? Perhaps president Beggs will be kind enough to explain these apparent indefensible imagined assertions. And if not, when is it do you suspect we will have a reasonable chance to believe and rely upon these sterling folks who provide the leadership and examples of intellectual honesty and moral straightforwardness to our kids, that they and their faculty are responsible to teach?
• What is it about public money, that among university presidents and chancellors, seems to cause a conviction that truth, like pure water and the fish that live in it, is some kind of precious commodity, that ought not to be squandered or over used. “Precisely what is truth?” Coming from other folks, I’m not always totally sure, but I usually know it when I see it. But for me, one thing it ain’t is listening to stories from university presidents and chancellors, or the people that work for them, about anything doing with public money.
• Finally, in the October 19th Board of Regents Minutes, WSU advises: “The University currently has 1,196 international students from 107 countries studying in both undergraduate and graduate programs on campus.” We recall reading recently that the greatest increase in foreign students was in English classes for Hispanic students, which increased over 50 students. Query: do you suspect some of these folks may be illegal alien Mexican citizens, who we may be supporting with mill levy scholarships. If so, why can’t we justify giving some Americans a few football scholarships, in order to solve our loss of traditional student 20 year old festering problem? Perhaps president Beggs will be kind enough to tell us if we are funding with mill levy funds, illegal alien Hispanics studying English? And even if he won’t be kind enough, he should be required to certify the issue, and that he is not using either our state tax money or our Wichita/Sedgwick County tax money in any fashion to support illegal alien students.
• Yet another university, Eastern Tennessee State, has announced a committee report to President Paul Stanton recommending the reinstatement of football with a $5 million start up target – the same start up amount recently targeted by Old Dominion, with a view to go to $10,000,000 ultimately, the same as Old Dominion. President Stanton suspended the football program in 2003 citing financial concerns, but evidently having seen the consequences – in all likelihood the loss of traditional students – now wants to reinstate it. The report includes the results of two online polls of faculty and students that were both positive. More than 60 percent of the 4,000 students responding, some one-forth of the student body, even supported student fee increases, in order to return football. At WSU we don’t need any student fee increases to return football, and we have the mill levy available to endow the 85 football scholarships, and additional Title IX scholarships, if president Beggs will just be reasonable, and cut his umbilical chains and commitments to chancellor Hemenway, and act in the best interest of WSU, not KU’s interest in obtaining traditional students from the Wichita area. Our kids deserve the right to stay at home at lessor costs, and attend a traditional university that we were when we came into the state system, rather than to be obligated to go to KU or K-State at greater costs in order to obtain a traditional college experience. KU can get its traditional students from Kansas City and points elsewhere, and leave us the ---- alone. KU can still recruit in the Wichita area, but they should have to do so on a level playing field.
• VISIT: Alumnishockerblackandgolds.com