The federal government, as well as many state and local governments, have been notoriously unwilling to provide adequate funds to fund government-owned facilities nationwide, leading to an ever-growing backlog of costly repairs in these buildings. One state has proved to be especially stubborn in providing needed funds, with a track record that stretches back decades.
Arizona lawmakers and governors have unconstitutionally underfunded public schools and are repeating the same mistakes that led to a landmark ruling more than 30 years ago, according to the Tucson Sentinel.
At the core of the ruling by a trial court is that chronic underfunding for school maintenance and short-term capital needs have created a two-tiered education system in Arizona. The result is that school districts in wealthier areas with higher property tax bases can supplement inadequate state funding with voter-approved bonds, while those in poor areas cannot.
Fox said the state shorted public schools at least $2.2 billion for maintenance and construction costs between 1998 and 2013 — and likely billions more in the years since, after policymakers scrapped a formula for building repairs in favor of far less funding for competitive grants.
One key component of the state’s 1998 Students FIRST program was its building renewal formula, which was designed to ensure school districts had money to build new schools in growing communities and keep existing schools from falling into disrepair. But the GOP-controlled legislature never met its obligations to provide that money. Of the $2.8 billion the formula called for, appropriations totaled just $647.5 million, or 23.5 percent of what was called for.
Dan Hounsell is senior editor for the facilities market. He has more than 30 years of experience writing about facilities maintenance, engineering and management.?
