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Board approves budget allocations, capital outlay plan, land sale and major student-housing P3 project
Summary
Finance committee received the system's preliminary operating allocations, approved the FY 26–27 five-year capital outlay plan and authorized a land sale to DOTD plus advanced work on a South Quad student-housing public-private project with multi‑stage cost estimates.
During the Finance Committee session, Thomas (Tommy) Smith, interim chief financial officer, presented preliminary allocations from the recent legislative session and noted the system's total operating budget allocation of about $1,387,000,000. Smith told the committee that self-generated revenues rose from $786,000,000 to $839,000,000 and that the State General Fund direct allocation to campuses was approximately $491,000,000 — a $1,600,000 reduction from the prior year. He said a $4.2 million reduction resulted from an early UAL retirement payment treated as a sweep to campuses.
Smith summarized line-item appropriations and supplemental funding, naming items such as $9,000,000 for graduate assistant allocations, $3,500,000 for a Copper Crown purchase, $450,000 for a financial and academic audit of UNO, and multiple allocations to Health Science centers and other campus projects. He also described a statewide reduction tied to an executive hiring freeze that reduced system allocations by $738,807 based on submitted savings reports.
On capital outlay, staff sought and the committee approved the FY 26–27 five-year prioritized capital outlay plan and first-year project list. Committee materials noted the House Bill included just over $137,000,000 in priority 1 funding for the LSU system and identified additional priority 5 and self-generated projects. The committee passed a resolution allowing the system president to make technical adjustments and limited financial changes to projects as described in the capital outlay presentation.
Assistant Vice President Patrick Martin presented two real estate items. He said the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) will buy approximately 1.9 acres adjacent to Nicholson Drive and will pay LSU $101,265 for LSU’s 10% ownership interest in the property; the committee approved that sale.
Martin and staff also recommended advancing the South Quad housing project (a public-private partnership previously approved in principle). The presentation described a phase of the project to deliver additional first‑year housing, with "hard construction costs" not to exceed $128,000,000 and a total development budget for the housing component not to exceed $156,000,000. The full development cost for the overall project was described as not to exceed approximately $188,000,000, exclusive of financing costs. Material items included demolition of outdated apartment structures (estimated $3,000,000) and construction of new paid parking ($3,700,000). The project would allow about $6,600,000 in advanced work before financial close to secure the schedule, and staff said final guaranteed maximum price figures will be provided to the full board at least five days before financial close. The committee approved moving forward, with staff recommending continuing design refinement and final pricing in coming weeks.
All committee actions in the Finance session were approved by motion and recorded as "all in favor" with no objections in the transcript.
