After nearly three years of overseeing New Jersey's roads, bridges, and mass transit systems, Transportation Commissioner Kris Kolluri will head the New Jersey Schools Development Authority, a revamped agency that many hope will move away from its previous history of fiscal mismanagement.
Kolluri will begin his new position as the NJSDA's chief executive officer on Dec. 1. Authority officials approved his appointment yesterday.
At the same time, Gov. Jon Corzine announced his nomination of Stephen Dilts as acting transportation commissioner, pending Senate Judiciary Committee approval. Dilts is the state's current deputy transportation commissioner.
"Kris Kolluri has been an outstanding commissioner of transportation," Corzine said in a press release. "Through his unique grasp of the many complex issues facing our vast infrastructure network, he has been able to create a seamless statewide transportation system. I fully expect that he will use these same skills to effectively and successfully lead [NJSDA] through its next phase of school development."
While the NJSDA manages school construction projects, it does not have borrowing power. The New Jersey Economic Development Authority sells bonds on behalf of the state to help finance school facilities.
Kolluri will now oversee NJSDA's current capital plan, which includes 53 school construction projects throughout 31 different special-needs districts, commonly called Abbott districts. The state pays for 100% of school construction costs in Abbott districts.
In addition, the authority is currently taking applications for non-Abbott districts, called regular operating districts, or RODs. In those areas, the state pays for 40% of eligible project costs.
Recent bonding legislation will help support the school construction projects mentioned above. In early July, Corzine signed into law $3.9 billion of state-backed school facility borrowing. That was the state's first school construction bond bill after lawmakers in 2002 authorized $8.6 billion of borrowing for school facility projects managed by the state's then-school building agency, the New Jersey Schools Construction Corp.
Three years later, the authority was forced to postpone nearly 350 projects as it ran out of funds, even after issuing more than $6 billion of debt. The Corzine administration then moved ahead with a complete overhaul and renovation of the NJSCC to better manage school facility development and renamed the agency.
Along with directing school construction projects, Kolluri will need to steer the agency away from its controversial and dysfunctional past and toward fiscal responsibility and effectiveness.
"Kris Kolluri is exactly the type of administrator the [NJSDA] needs to jump-start the school construction effort and complete the job of restoring the agency's reputation," Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts, D-Camden, said in a press release. "As state transportation chief, Kris has shown a keen ability to simultaneously, efficiently and effectively manage many projects."
