Alaska Governor Proposes Maintenance Fund

DAN JOLING

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Gov. Sean Parnell on Thursday proposed spending $100 million annually for five years on maintenance needs that have been ignored at Alaska's state-owned buildings and facilities.

"We have not as a state had a predictable deferred maintenance plan," Parnell said at a press conference at the University of Alaska Anchorage. "I think it only makes sense to take care of the state's assets, to fix what we have."

Counting university structures, the state has more than 2,300 public buildings with a deferred maintenance backlog of more than $1.8 billion dollars, Parnell said.

He proposes the $100 million appropriation in the capital budget during the next budget cycle and for four years after that. Under Parnell's plan, more than $37 million would be steered to the university next year.

The university has nearly 400 buildings, he said, with an estimated replacement value of $2.6 billion. Some need to be fixed to meet building codes.

University spokeswoman Kate Ripley said Parnell's announcement was welcome news. More than half of the system's buildings are at least 30 years old.