Public colleges, universities, and consortia may keep certain unspent state general fund money if they meet program conditions, but part of the money must go into a maintenance reserve and be used only for maintenance.
§3386. Surplus funds; retention; use; exceptions A. Except as otherwise provided by this Section, any public college or university or any consortium of colleges and universities which adopts a building and facility preventative maintenance program approved by the Board of Regents may retain any funds appropriated or allocated to such college, university, or consortium thereof from the state general fund which remain unexpended and unobligated at the end of the fiscal year, provided that not less than fifty percent of such retained funds shall be maintained by the college, university, or consortium thereof in a preventative maintenance reserve fund, and the monies from such reserve fund shall be used solely for preventative maintenance purposes in accordance with the approved plan. Retained funds shall be spent only on nonrecurring projects and such expenditures are subject to approval by the appropriate postsecondary education management board, the Board of Regents, and the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget. Such expenditures shall be contained in a report submitted to the Board of Regents no later than September fifteenth. B. Before approving the building and facility preventative maintenance program of a public college, university, or consortium thereof, the Board of Regents shall determine that the college, university, or consortium thereof has a preventative maintenance reserve fund. C. The provisions of this Section shall not apply to any state general fund appropriation which was made for a specific purpose in the General Appropriation Act for any fiscal year and which remains unexpended or unobligated at the end of any fiscal year. Such monies shall not be retained by any institution identified in Subsection A of this Section. D. Except as otherwise provided by this Section, no public postsecondary education institution as provided in Subsection A of this Section may carry forward more than two percent of its prior fiscal year's state general fund appropriation or allocation under the provisions of Subsections A and B of this Section. E. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, an institution that is determined by the Board of Regents to have met the short-term targets established in the performance agreement entered into pursuant to Part II of Chapter 24 of this Title (R.S. 17:3139, et. seq.) may retain any funds appropriated or allocated to such college, university, or consortium thereof, excluding those as specified in Subsection C of this Section, which remain unexpended and unobligated at the end of the fiscal year, in accordance with R.S. 17:3139.5(5)(a)(i) and such funds shall be used at the institution's discretion. Acts 1988, No. 912, §1; Acts 1995, No. 910, §1, eff. June 28, 1995; Acts 1997, No. 1478, §1, eff. July 15, 1997; Acts 2010, No. 741, §1, eff. June 29, 2010; Acts 2011, No. 418, §1, eff. July 12, 2011.