For the past four years, Sacramento State officials have been trying to build a sister campus in Placer County on land donated by developer Eli Broad. On Oct. 17, Broad’s company, Placer Ranch Partners, submitted a formal request to the city of Roseville asking that the 2,200 acres of donated land be considered for annexation.

The Roseville City Council is scheduled to decide whether or not to proceed with the annexation process in its meeting on Nov. 14.

To annex a property is to incorporate it into the domain of a city or county. If Roseville were to successfully annex the land, the city would be in charge of supplying the new Sac State campus with police, fire and other urban services.

Holly Tiche, president of Placer Ranch, said Placer County’s estimates for the cost of supplying the university with these services were much higher than Roseville’s.

Sac State Provost Joseph Sheley said he didn’t wish to comment on the estimated cost of the project and said, “this is a sensitive situation…we don’t want to release figures until everything is closer to being finalized.”

One of the significant issues involved in the annexation process is how property and sales taxes from the development will be divided between the city of Roseville and Placer County.

“The state-owned campus would pay no property tax and local governments have no ability to impose fees on the state,” Placer County Executive Officer Thomas Miller said in a press release.

The current plans for the development of Placer Ranch include 9 million square feet of commercial and industrial land and about 5,000 homes. The new campus would also have approximately 1,700 housing units for students and faculty.

There is no set date for when construction will begin on the campus or when it will actually open. Officials said, however, that they would like to have the project completed within the next few years.

After the land was originally donated in 2003, officials hoped to have the school be operational by 2006.

The location of the new campus would make it easier for the students who live in Placer County.

“There are between 5,000 and 6,000 students who commute from the Roseville-area to come to Sac State,” Sheley said. “This satellite campus would definitely benefit those individuals as well as those seeking educational opportunities outside of Sacramento.”

Graduate student Michael Tavares agrees a new campus would ease traffic and ultimately be beneficial for all students.

“I love the idea of having a satellite campus,” Tavares said. “If this helps students and is in their best interest, that is all that matters and that’s the bottom line.”

The new campus would most likely offer undergraduate and graduate classes in a variety of subjects, Sheley said.

The most popular majors among students living in Placer County include business and education.

“We would definitely try to offer courses geared to those students,” Sheley said.

The plan for a new campus began in 2003, when Broad originally donated the land to Sac State.

Broad and his wife Edythe have donated more than $2 billion to education, the arts and medical research, according to a story in the July 2006 Wall Street Journal.

“We decided that public education was the area of greatest need, so that became the cornerstone of our foundation,” Broad said in an interview last year.

Other branch campuses in the CSU system include locations in Stockton, Concord, Palm Desert, Irvine and Imperial Valley.

The Broads’ support of Sac State also includes a $2 million gift to build a new field house as part of the university’s Sports and Recreation Complex.

The Broad Athletic Facility will include a weight room, locker rooms, coaches’ offices and meeting space for football and track and field.

One of the main reasons for the Broads’ donations to Sac State is to stress the importance of education.

“Education is the great equalizer,” Broad said. “I believe there is no greater foundation for an individual’s success in life than education.”

Michael Calvillo can be reached at [email protected].