IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) - The public won’t have time to scrutinize a 50-year plan to lease the University of Iowa’s utilities system to a for-profit operator before its governing board votes Tuesday.
The university hasn’t released the names of the two companies that formed the recommended winning bid or the size of the lump sum payment they’d make under the deal.
Iowa Board of Regents spokesman Josh Lehman said those details will be released at Tuesday’s meeting, which has been called to consider approving the transaction. He said it’s board policy not to reveal the details of bids until awards are made.
UI President Bruce Harreld has said that a detailed contract has been negotiated and the companies are international “leaders in the field.”
The transaction could be lucrative for the investors.
The operator will be paid a fixed fee that starts at $35 million annually, plus operating and maintenance costs and repayment for capital improvements. Over 50 years, the university projects those payments could exceed $6.8 billion.
The investors’ unspecified lump sum payment would create an endowment that the university estimates would generate at least $3 billion over 50 years. Most of that would subsidize rising utility costs, but $735 million would be for strategic education and research initiatives.
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