MADISON, WI (WSAU) – Taxpayer money won’t be used to bailout the financially strapped UW-Oshkosh Foundation. UW officials said yesterday that it would be inappropriate to use public funding to cover the millions the foundation owes for a series of improper real estate projects.
A lawsuit was filed in January against two former top administrators, accusing them of arranging deals that moved millions of dollars from the university to the nonprofit to fund the projects. Several lawmakers have said it was inappropriate, and possibly illegal, to move taxpayer dollars to a private foundation that’s beyond the oversight of state government.
The UW System has also denied a request from the Foundation to help pay for their debt. The UW System had acknowledged that there were preliminary talks with banks to try to settle the foundation’s debt. Those talks have ended without an agreement. A statement from UW says they will “attempt to work through the financial realities the foundation faces.”
Earlier this year the foundation had more than $14.5-million in debt, and was considering a bankruptcy filing. The UW System wants to preserve the part of the foundation that provides student scholarships.
The MetroSource news wire contributed to this report.
