Students paying off gym one credit at a time
Katelyn Hummel
Staff Writer
As students walk in, they get a feel of the grandeur of the high ceilings and glass windowed architecture that is the 60,000 square foot Health Education Center.
What they don’t get a sense of is the $3.50 per credit they pay each quarter to pay off an almost $8 million loan for the gym that is next to the HEC.
A Certificate of Participation (COP) is a loan from the state government to help construct buildings that the state normally doesn’t provide funds for, such as a gymnasium.
The “loan” is given when students have voted to tax themselves in order to pay off the COP over a period of time.
The college once had a pool (where the HEC stands) but no gym. The pool was considered a money loser in that it required constant maintenance due to chlorine damage. Most other community colleges in the state already had filled and built over their pools.
An earthquare in February of 2001 caused cracks in the pool. It was determined that the costs to repair it and further maintain it outweighed the cost to fill it in and build over it. The state provided money to build the HEC, not funds to add a gym.
“Student leaders brainstormed with college officials about the idea of having a COP and getting [the gym and fitness center together],” said Sylvia Derrick, accounting coordinator at Pierce.
Soon after the brainstorming, students voted in favor of the self-levied COP fee.
The budget for the COP that was allocated to pay for the gymnasium was initiated in 2004. The requirement was for the college to pay off the loan over a 20-year period.
Derrick says that every year the budget’s status is analyzed to make sure that payments are on track with the budget’s projections. The student fees are evaluated so that students are not over paying. In fact, with recent excess enrollment, Derrick says the funds are stable.
“We don’t even know if the $3.50 will pay for it over the lifetime, but the college is required to pay for it regardless if we have student fees because it is a long term debt to the state,” Derrick says.
So far, the student fees have paid off over $3 million with over $5 million to go. The payoff date is June 1, 2026.
