Houstonian: TSUS Bonds Still Waiting For Approval

Today's Houstonian reports that Texas State University System officials say bonds have not yet been sold to fund a series of SHSU construction projects as part of an upcoming, system-wide Capital Improvements Program:

The projects designated to be funded via TSUS bond sales on a financial report on the TSUS website include the Central Plant expansion, the South Residential District and the Lowman Student Center expansion.

TSUS Director of Communications Mike Wintemute explained that because the projects are still at the conceptual level, the bond issue would be resolved at some point in the future.

"These improvements are all currently in planning stages," Wintemute said. "When we move further along (in the building process), funding will be addressed through the sale of bonds."

Though projects such as the $35 million structure to house the Correctional Management Institute of Texas, the Law Enforcement Management Institute of Texas and the Police Research Center are slated to begin next year, they still must be green-lit by governing bodies before bonds can be issued.

"Approval is a multi-step process involving the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) and the TSUS regents," Wintemute said.

The issuance of TSUS bonds to fund capital improvements is not a new development. In 2011, TSUS sold more than $86 million in bonds, part of which financed new instructional facilities at the SHSU University Center in The Woodlands, Texas.

According to Wintmute, there’s no firm timetable on the future sale of bonds, but he did anticipate approval from both the TSUS Board of Regents and the THECB once both bodies formally address the issue.