Date: Thur. 19 Oct.,‘06
Ms. Mary D. Prewitt
General Counsel
KANSAS BOARD OF REGENTS
& The Kansas Board of Regents, individually
Curtis State Office Building
1000 S.W. Jackson, Suite 510
Topeka, KS 66612-1368
RE: Presentation Concerning the Wichita
Sedgwick County 1.5 Mill Levy for WSU
GOOD MORNING: My name is Fred Marrs, and I am here on behalf of the Shocker Black & Golds to speak to the issue of our tax mill levy money provided to WSU.
The following is generally the presentation of sequential points we would request you consider.
1. In 1963 the citizens of Wichita in a referendum required by the state, approved a 1.5 mill levy to pay off the then existing capital improvement debt of WSU, so that the assets of WSU could be transferred to the state debt free, as required by the legislature.
2. The then existing WSU debt has long been paid off.
3. I contend that since the debt was paid off, our city, and now the county also, have legally continued the mill levy on a year to year basis, without any further approval of the citizens of Sedgwick County.
4. On president Beggs watch in the last 8 years, since Jan. 1, 1999, no accounting for the actual expenditures of the mill levy funds has been accomplished by WSU, as confirmed by the City and County. All that has been provided is the annual 10 page form “Budget Request”, which is not an accounting. Nor does the past 3rd year numbers on the request, in fact represent true budget expenditures as evidenced by president Beggs’ unprincipled Memorandum, to say it kindly. (See, Att. dated “Patsy Selby”, but in fact accomplished in FY 2003).
5. But we are hear primarily to talk about double taxation to Wichita/Sedgwick County tax payers, caused by this Board’s actions. We pay more money to the state in taxes than any other county except perhaps Johnson County; but we receive in return almost zero from the state Board of Regents Capital Improvement Budget.
• In the 42 years we have been in the state system, the State has built no new building for WSU. But, for example, the Board has spent 100's of million for KU and K-State, including 26 million for the opulent Taj Mahal Hock Auditorium with marbled walls, terrazzo flooring, and massive useless space eating glass atrium; and 18 million each for KU and K-State for library renovation, while WSU was required to ask for $40,000 from the mill levy and solicit money from the community for its library needs.
6. The latest 2007 Board of Regents Capital Improvements Budget, we believe, shows KU with 22 approved projects, for a total of $435 million, with $185 million completed, and with 70.4 percent, or $130 million of the money being provided by the state. K-State has 13 projects in progress with a total approved value of $210 million. WSU has 3 projects approved, with a projected cost of $10,930,000 with $7 million completed, and with the state providing a miserable $145 thousand dollars. Even Pittsburg State has $43 million in 9 approved projects, with $18 million completed and $15 million, or 83.6 percent of the money being provided by the state. The bottom line is that Sedgwick County tax payers are being effectively doubled taxed. (See, the attached 26 July ‘06 Bare Bones posting on our internet sight).
7. The debt service on the new Engineering Lab Building addition, principle and interest, is some $900,000 a year to the year 2017, for Series 2005D Revenue Bonds. (See, attached Bond schedules produced from the Board).
8. The mill levy request asks for a slot of $900,000 a year for land acquisition around the campus, and if not used for that, the notes say it will be used for campus facilities, and if not for that it will go to the fund for the new engineering lab building. This 900,000 annual slot is precisely the 900,000 needed to debt service the Series 2005D Revenue Bonds identified on the mill levy.
9. The mill levy “contingency” line item, is usually a slot of $500,000 and is not contingent, but we submit is already ear marked for unidentified use – perhaps the new Marcus Welcome Center and/or the new west side campus.
10. We ask this Board to agree to take over the debt service on the new engineering lab building, so that we can free up the $900,000 a year to solve our loss of traditional student 20 year old problem, and fund the administration of the new Wichita Area Technical College.
• The Board of Regents was profoundly concerned with the precipitous loss of students at K-State, and in 1986 hired president Wefald and charged him with stopping the bleeding of students and emphasizing football, while at the same time suspending football at WSU. At the time WSU was growing students, and with 16,900 and some students, was only 442 students less than K-State, then with some 17,300 students. Now we are down some 9000 students with K-State at 23000 plus and WSU some 14,000 plus.
• This Board’s predecessors when it was monopolistic controlled by KU graduates, tried to tear down our Cessna Stadium. They lost our fight in the legislature, and recently the Rolling Stones played to 30 some thousand Wichita folks in the stands, and the university made a $100,000 from the concert. More concerts are reported on the way.
• On August 19th 1996, former president Hughes announced on TV underneath the west stands of the stadium, that the stadium would be renovated, and further that he would bring back football at whatever level the community would support, and would appoint a committee the first of the following month to study the issue. But the KU controlled Board would not let the committee be formed for four months, and then tried to limit our discussion to I-AA football only. We would not be bullied and our committee of four months study, requested that president Hughs set up a committee to raise the money to reinstate Division I-A football. However, the Board would not let former president Hughes bring back football, but rather we believe, required him to announce his “retirement”. Within six months Hughes was president of another university in the southeast.
• We then understood that it would be necessary to de-pack the Board of Regents from KU’s monopolistic control, having then averaged 4.453 members on a 9 member board since 1964 when WSU came into the system. But sadly, it took us two years to get a law passed through the legislature – not until a year after president Beggs was hired by KU folks, who controlled both the selection committee with the chairman and co-chairman and three or four other KU folks, and also with 6 of the 9 members of the Board, KU graduates.
• We believe president Beggs was asked to apply for the position, and was committed by the then KU controlled process, not to bring back football, and not to seek state money from the Board’s Capital Improvement Budget, as a condition of obtaining his position.
• Presently, president Beggs has incredibly turned down an offer of a $10,000,000 contribution towards the return of football, presented to him by Mayor Mayans on behalf of the contributor, because he would not agree to name the unnamed football field after the contributor.
• Nor will president Beggs allow a reasoned inquiry to see if additional money can be raised to allow a reasoned decision as to the return of football and the solution to our loss of traditional student problem; for which loss of traditional students this Board, as evidenced and suggested by this Boards public silence, cares not a wit.
• If this Board will agree to take over the debt service of $900,000 a year on the new WSU engineering lab building, it will free up an existing slot of $900,000 a year on the mill levy, that along with a slot of the annual increase in the mill levy of some 6.2 percent for the last 10 years, for a period of three years, will allow us to slot 85 football scholarships and 85 Title IX scholarships, and the administration of the new technical college, estimated at some $2,000,000, without effecting a single existing line item on the mill levy.
• With contingent money contributions – we believe that another $15 million in addition to the $10 million already offered, can be raised – for a total of $25 million cash. A slot on the mill levy of $1,250,000 is equivalent to a $25 million endowment fund invested at 5 percent a year.
• We would then have accumulated effectively $50 million dollars for football, probably with the only fully scholarship endowed football program in the country, and we would have not yet sold a single contingent ticket to raise money to support the football program. If we sold 20,000 contingent season tickets at $200/ticket, we would raise $4 million with which to run the football program. KU general season tickets this year cost $225/ticket. With the scholarships endowed, equivalent to $1,250,000 assuming 85 out-of-state tuition football scholarships, we could clearly have a lower half of the 117 university NCAA Division I-A football programs, as evidenced by the latest available 8 year NCAA cost statistics studies.
• With the money raised, a reasoned business decision could be made, and would be obvious. But presently, president Beggs will not allow an attempt at the possibility of a reasoned business decision, notwithstanding the request of the mayor, but has politically intrigued to attempt to preclude the possibility of the money coming forward, and a reasoned business decision being made.
• President Beggs previous commitments to the KU folks, and the Board, were improper, are legally unenforceable, and presently should have no proper consideration.
• This Board should take over the responsibility of the debt service of the engineering building, so that we can use our money for scholarships for football and the solution to our loss of traditional student problem, as well as funding for the administration of the new Wichita Technical College. • Presently, this Board’s leaning on our mill levy to fund capital improvements at WSU, that should properly be the function of state funding, in order to free up that money for other state institutions, is unjust; we believe is unacceptable to the Wichita community; and in fact constitutes this Board’s effective double taxation of the Wichita/Sedgwick County tax payers, unbeknownst to the Kansas legislature.
• Your predecessors on this Board, when it was monopolistic controlled by KU graduates, significantly damaged our university, and caused the loss of traditional student problem we have had for some 20 years now. We want this egregious error and wrongdoing corrected. We ask for this Board’s likewise profound concern for our loss of traditional students, as the previous 1986 Board was concerned with the precipitous loss of students at K-State, as advised by the then chairman Sondra McMillian.
• Even should this Board respond to our request to take over the debt service on the new WSU engineering building – which should have been funded and paid for in the first instance by the state – even then it would not constitute our fair share of the present State Board of Regents Capital Improvement Budget. But we are presently willing to accept our request as a solution. In the future, we would ask that we not be effectively double taxed, and that WSU be given our fair share of the State Board of Regents Capital Improvement Budget for the first time in 42 years, and thereafter.
• Absent your agreement to solve this unjust inequity, and taking over the $900,000 a year debt service for our new engineering lab building addition, thereby allowing us to attempt to solve our local problems with our local money, we will seek our redress with the appropriate local authorities, including potentially a referendum on the mill levy in total. We do not intend to continue to suffer being uniquely in the state, effectively by this Board’s actions, double taxed.
Thank you for your time and consideration. I stand for questions.
Respectfully submitted,
Shocker Black & Golds
By:
Fred Marrs
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