21-18-225. College maintenance and capital construction funding.
(a) As part of its administrative functions, the community college commission shall identify community college building needs and develop a prioritized list of community college capital construction projects. The prioritized community college capital construction projects shall be reported by the commission to the state construction department in accordance with subsection (g) of this section. Following review, analysis and study, the state construction department shall forward recommendations for community college capital construction projects to the state building commission. The state construction department shall also submit major maintenance budget requests for college buildings to the legislature in accordance with this section. Major maintenance budget requests shall be based upon the square footage submitted by the commission under subsection (f) of this section and upon a formula adopted by the state building commission, and upon forms and in a format specified by the state budget department. College building maintenance budget requests submitted by the state construction department to the legislature and capital construction budget requests forwarded by the state building commission to the legislature shall include only necessary building square footage:
(i) Required for provision of those education programs comprising the statewide college system strategic plan developed and maintained under W.S. 21-18-202(a)(v); and
(ii) For major maintenance, exclude student housing, student unions and auxiliary services areas funded exclusively through college generated revenues.
(b) To carry out this section and in accordance with rules and regulations of the state building commission promulgated under W.S. 9-5-107(d) and (e) serving as guidelines for implementation and administration of this section, the commission shall establish and maintain:
(i) A statewide community college building data base comprised of building inventory, specific building condition, square footage, usage, space utilization and building capacity data;
(ii) Statewide planning and reporting criteria and guidelines for use by community college districts in developing and maintaining comprehensive long-range plans for district building needs as required under W.S. 21-18-304(a)(xi), providing necessary guidance to college districts for separating future building space needs and requests attached to the statewide college system strategic plan from other district space requests;
(iii) Methodologies for use by community college districts in computing future student enrollments, building space demands and future building needs in establishing long-range plans addressing district building needs;
(iv) Methodologies which require a seven (7) year phase-in period for major maintenance following the new construction of a community college facility. The phase-in period shall be as follows:
(A) Year one (1) zero percent (0%);
(B) Year two (2) ten percent (10%);
(C) Year three (3) ten percent (10%);
(D) Year four (4) forty percent (40%);
(E) Year five (5) sixty percent (60%);
(F) Year six (6) eighty percent (80%);
(G) Year seven (7) and thereafter one hundred percent (100%).
(c) The commission shall conduct and maintain a comprehensive assessment of community college buildings and future space requirements as defined by the statewide strategic plan. The comprehensive building assessment shall be designed and maintained to provide timely and uniform statewide data on building condition and building longevity and future space requirements. The needs assessment shall be revised annually to reflect current conditions and shall be capable of providing data sufficient to accommodate a five (5) year planning cycle.
(d) On or before November 1 of each year, the commission shall, based upon the assessment performed under subsection (c) of this section and upon facility plans and annual reports submitted by each college pursuant to W.S. 21-18-304(a)(xi), prioritize community college construction needs for the current fiscal year and the succeeding four (4) fiscal years based upon:
(i) Criteria for statewide capacity for education programs aligned to the statewide college system strategic plan;
(ii) Analysis of student enrollment changes based upon commission approved enrollment projection methodology, to determine the need for changes in statewide building capacities over time for delivering statewide education program needs identified within the strategic plan;
(iii) A methodology and process established by the commission for identifying the most critical building needs.
(e) The commission may modify construction needs prioritized under subsection (d) of this section in any subsequent fiscal year as necessary to address statewide needs as substantiated by data, condition assessments, needs analysis and other information assembled by the commission under this section. Needs receiving a lower priority than previously assigned may be removed or reprioritized by the commission. Construction needs modified under this subsection shall be reported to the state construction department.
(f) In addition to subsection (d) of this section and on or before June 1 of each odd-numbered year, the commission shall report college building square footage to the state construction department as necessary for computation of major maintenance funds for community college buildings. The reported square footage shall be restricted to that square footage necessary for the delivery of education programs comprising the statewide college system strategic plan and exclude student housing, student unions and auxiliary services areas funded exclusively through college generated revenues.
(g) Upon prioritizing community college construction needs under subsection (d) of this section, the commission shall not later than June 1 of each year, report the prioritized list to the state construction department. In accordance with W.S. 9-5-108(a)(ii), the state construction department shall review, analyze and study construction needs prioritized under subsection (d) of this section and conduct necessary value engineering analysis, schematic design review, safety and security assessments and other analysis and review prior to submission of recommendations to the state building commission. The state building commission shall consider and incorporate prioritized construction needs recommendations into legislation requesting necessary funding, developed under W.S. 9-5-108(a)(ii)(J), for submission to the legislature for review, authorization and approval. The legislation shall also include a separate appropriation for contingency costs associated with recommended construction projects and a separate appropriation for administrative costs of the state construction department for management of the recommended construction projects as required by subsection (j) of this section. The state construction department shall submit a separate budget request for project design and planning funds to be available to assist community colleges with costs incurred in developing and providing necessary plans, designs and other information to the state construction department for purposes of this subsection. This request shall also include funds for major maintenance for the square footage reported by the commission under subsection (f) of this section. The state construction department shall consult with the community college commission in developing recommendations under this subsection.
(h) The community college commission shall provide copies of the needs assessment, construction priorities and major maintenance square footage established under this section to members of the legislature on or before December 1 of each year.
(j) Subject to amounts made available by legislative appropriation and to any conditions which may be attached to appropriation expenditures, the state construction department shall distribute state funds for building construction approved and authorized by the legislature. Distributions of state funds for any approved and authorized construction project shall be in accordance with payment schedules established by rule and regulation of the department. Payments by the department shall be contingent upon the receipt of any local district funding as may be required by legislative authorization, or upon receipt of other documentation which may be required by the program certifying the timely receipt of required local district funds for the capital construction project. Payments to districts shall also be attached to prescribed phases of the construction project and the completion of certain project phases. Construction phases for which approval of the program is required shall be specified by the state construction department rule and regulation, clearly prescribing a process for program review and approval of project plans and specifications, project development and project changes and change orders. In carrying out duties under this subsection, the department may execute powers prescribed under W.S. 9-5-108(a)(iii) in coordination with the state building commission and the appropriate community college district. No scheduled payment shall be made by the department without compliance with the prescribed process.
(k) Appropriations for major maintenance shall be distributed by the state construction department to community colleges in equal quarterly installments in amounts determined by the funding formula developed by the state building commission, subject to restrictions imposed on qualifying square footage pursuant to this section. The state construction department shall distribute the first quarterly payment on July 1 of each fiscal year, with the remaining payments distributed on October 1, January 2 and April 1.
(m) Notwithstanding any provision of law enacted prior to January 1, 2014, biennial budget requests submitted for major maintenance funding for community college capital construction facilities authorized by the legislature shall be calculated as provided in this section.