LA Community Colleges Resume $6 Billion Building Projects

"Severe state cuts" -- What are those?

Spending on most new construction projects in the Los Angeles Community College District's $6-billion campus building project has resumed, virtually ending a moratorium that had been the centerpiece of efforts to reform poor planning, questionable spending and other flaws uncovered in the program.

The moratorium was initially imposed last October to examine whether campuses had sufficient funding to maintain and operate 3 million square feet of new facilities — a 60% increase — particularly in light of severe state funding cuts.

It followed an audit last August by state Controller John Chiang, which found that the district failed to provide adequate oversight in its spending and recommended that it adopt procedures to account for operating costs of new construction.