Governor recommends case-by-case decisions on college construction Gov. Bill Clements said Thurs- day-he thinks college and universi- ty construction should be approved on a "case-by-case" basis and he doesn't really care how the Legislature decides to fund it, with a dedicated fund or general reve- nues. But the governor, speaking in Denton, made it clear he doesn't favor automatically giving each university a sum of money on some kind of formula basis. He wants each project to stand on its merits. -We can't play fast and loose with the taxpayers' money," he said. Tracing the history of the state property tax dedicated to college construction, Clements said East Texas State anticipated growth that did not occur and -built buildings it had no use for." Southwest Texas State at San Marcos, however, underestimated its growth and ended up with no new buildings and an enrollment that tripled. "The formula basis was not good," the governor said. He said the $156 million the Legislature appropriated in special session this spring was more than they would have received from the property tax. "Under no circumstances," he said, would the Legislature again fall into the trap of committing money on a 10-year basis "by guess See COLLEGES, Page 2A Colleges 718 WEST 5th ST AUSTIN. TEXAS 78701 4776755 Record-Chronicle Denton, Texas JUL 1 6 1982 From Page 1 and by God.- He said each college construction project should go to the Coordinat- ing Board with a feasibility study and, if recommended, go to the, Legislative Budget Board for ap- proval before going to the Legislature. Walt Parker of North Texas State University, named Thursday as Clements' county chairman for • Democrats and independents, favors an appropriation of about $125 million in a dedicated fund, about $75 million of it set aside to start .a permanent fund for the 17 schools outside the Permanent University Fund. Even $50 million a year would produce. in 10 years, an interest-earning fund of half a billion, he noted. Parker is an NT vice president. Asked if any appointments to the North Texas State University board of regents were forthcoming, Clements said he knew of none pending. The appointments of Re- gents Hugh Wolfe and Albert Gates expired in 1981, but they continue to serve until replaced. A provision that no two regents can be from the same senatorial district has created some confusion, since sen- atorial district lines were changed by redistricting. In replying to the question, Clements said he was well-pleased with the NTSU board, which is headed by Winfree Brown of Midland, who was Clements' campaign manager for West Tex- as. "I think North Texas University is a real credit to our state in higher education echelons, as is Texas Woman's University. Denton has two really fine, outstanding schools." •