ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, January 20, 1996 TAG: 9601210005
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: MARGARET EDDS STAFF WRITER
College construction projects around the state were put in doubt Friday as the Allen administration acknowledged that it may not be able to sell enough surplus property to pay for them.
Working papers obtained by The Roanoke Times and its sister paper in Norfolk, The Virginian-Pilot, show that administration officials have identified only about $36 million in surplus land suitable for sale.
The figure is half the $72.5 million that Gov. George Allen's budget experts indicated last month could be generated from land sales to finance college construction.
Among the projects that still would be in line to receive funding would be the renovation of Walker Hall at Radford University; among the projects that would be left without funding, at least for now, would be a proposed $10 million information technology building at Virginia Tech.
The list of surplus properties, which Secretary of Administration Mike Thomas will present Monday to the House Appropriations Committee, represents the second time this week that Allen has run into potential funding gaps in his proposed $34.6 billion biennial budget.
Earlier this week, a state lottery official said the administration would not go forward with plans to raise $67.3 million from two new lottery games, unless the legislature directs it to do so.
"You just get the feeling you're not dealing with real figures," said State Sen. Stanley Walker, Democratic co-chairman of the Senate Finance Committee.
In supplying the figures, Thomas explained that the administration never expected to sell enough surplus property to pay for the full $72.5 million in higher education construction projects.
"Some may have gotten that impression," he acknowledged.
The idea was to list all the desirable building projects by priority in the governor's budget document and to pay for as many of them as land sales allowed.
Nor, Thomas added, are all the 58 properties listed for sale by the Governor's Commission on the Conversion of State-Owned Property certain to be put on the market, much less sold. More properties may be added to the list, and the administration probably would avoid selling a few tracts likely to stir controversy.
"It's hard for me to say definitely what it is all worth," he said.
Added to the uncertainty is the fact that the administration doesn't intend to sell several properties on the list right away because it would be more lucrative to develop them over a period of time.
This would include the most valuable property on the list: a 2,200-acre tract near Richmond International Airport in Henrico County. The so-called Elko Tract is valued at $10.7 million, nearly one-third of the total identified for sale.
Most surplus sites on Thomas' list are small parcels scattered around the state.
A Democratic budget leader said he was not surprised that surplus property sales are likely to generate less money than indicated in budget papers released last month by Robert Lauterberg, director of the Department of Planning and Budget.
Lauterberg gave budget committees briefing papers on higher education that read, "Capital outlay to be funded through: sales of surplus property - $72.5 million."
"These figures on surplus properties have always been questionable and in doubt," Walker said. "This is a far cry from what we've been talking about."
Thomas said that, rather than be disappointed by the lower figures, colleges and universities should be grateful that any construction money will come from the surplus land.
While not all projects will be funded, "it's fair to say that without this mechanism, none would be funded," he said.
The administration has listed 19 projects in line to receive money. However, if just $36 million is available, only the first five or six are likely to be funded. Here's where the proceeds would go, in order:
Virginia Community College System, $15 million for information technology infrastructure.
College of William and Mary, $12.2 million for building renovation.
Radford University, $1.4 million to renovate Walker Hall.
Clinch Valley College, $3 million to renovate a science building.
Virginia State University, $475,000 to build a new business school.
University of Virginia, $5.5 million to renovate the health sciences library.
Tech's information technology building is seventh on the list.
Staff writers David M. Poole, Robert Little and Warren Fiske contributed to this report.
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