Library plan a bit too much
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March 26, 2014 |
Reference is made to the Bonners Ferry Herald
front page story of March 20, concerning the
proposed new library building.
In May we can vote on an $8 million bond for a
three story building plus an additional levy of
$100,000 for operating expenses. A library is a
fine complement to a community. The current
facility is great and provides access to the
Internet for those who don’t have computers at
home. The book resources are excellent.
Perhaps it is noteworthy that in a county with a
2012 estimate of 10,800 people (the most recent
census data shown on the county website) the
projected increase in property taxes will be $72
per year for each $100,000 of valuation. [Note:
I’ve always found those projections are
understated when the tax man cometh.]
Of those 10,800 people nine percent or more are
unemployed. The article also states that 28% of
children under five live in poverty. Children
under five usually don’t live alone, so if they
are family members of the nine-percent figure,
what is the point of mentioning them?
And back to the 2012 estimated county census
data, from 2010 to 2012 the net county
population dropped by 1.5%. So the projection of
more people moving into Boundary County to
absorb some of the tax costs is wishful thinking
not reflected in census data.
It is remarkable that the library board and
planners would propose 28,000 square feet, to
include covered parking, space for the U of I
extension office that is already housed here,
for the North Idaho College that has “a really
nice outreach center already” so there is “a
feel of a college campus,” and provide resources
for business, inventors, and collaborators to
work with worldwide educational communities. And
let us not forget the envisioned rooftop garden
and industrial kitchen facilities.
Reality check - for a college education, young
people still have to go far away from Boundary
County. A library is not an accredited four year
university. And when the students get their
degree they will go where the jobs are. Those
jobs are not in Boundary county. And to connect
with any place in the world only requires a
computer, not an $8 million bond measure.
So to build this Taj Mahal of Boundary County,
the USDA will provide a Rural Development loan
at 4.374% interest. For those in this county who
actually have the money for a savings account,
dare I suggest that the interest rate is
somewhere far below 4.374%? And how many of the
9%+ unemployed can pay another increase in
property taxes for 30 years? Whether the nine
percent unemployed are property owners or
renters, they will still pay the increased taxes
with increased rent.
To the credit of the library director, she hopes
to build the facility at under $5 million. But
the fact is the bond for The People’s University
is to be for $8 million unless that number is
revised before the May primaries. And in this
county a $5 million obligation is still far in
excess of what good economics would suggest.
The plan as reflected in the cited newspaper
article is extravagant.
We don’t need to build opulence for what already
exists here. In a time when the federal
government rammed through an undesirable law to
control how we obtain our health care and punish
us if we don’t comply, when the economy is being
destroyed by a massive national debt, and when
the world political situation just became much
worse, the future of this country and our lives
are quite unstable.
This library plan, without the embellishments,
might be fine in a community of 50,000 people,
but in Boundary County it is just far too much. |
Ken Ewing
Boundary County |
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