In a recent update to the Camas Aquatic Center website announcing the elimination of the 50-meter competition pool from the plan, City officials are now providing new numbers to justify their proposed $72M expenditure. According to the update, the previously reported $5.8M budget for Off-site Improvements has been broken down into further detail.
The update states:
Off-site Development:
Heritage Park Parking Expansion: $1.3 million
Lake Road Improvements: $2.4 million**
NW Lake Road and NW Sierra Street Traffic Signal: $2.1 million
The intersection of NW Lake Road and NW Sierra has been the source of traffic problems for years, and most affected drivers complain about it ad-nauseum. But instead of simply installing a new traffic light there to alleviate the issue, Camas officials decided it was better to bundle this improvement inside the $78M pool bond proposal. Upon further investigation, however, the cost the City has allocated to this traffic light installation is more than 8 (eight) times higher than the average cost of a normal traffic light in Washington.
According to the Washington State Department of Transportation, "...It costs the taxpayer $250,000 to $500,000 to purchase and install a traffic signal. Electric bills and routine maintenance amount to about $8,000 a year. Drivers also have increased costs for fuel, time delay, and accidents. This adds to the reasons for installing signals only where clearly justified." But that same traffic light in Camas has somehow ballooned to $2.1M. And the only way you get it, is to Vote YES for the $78M bond.
The Lake Road improvements are now budgeted for $2.4M. But that figure doesn't include the huge roundabout that has already been approved and paid for by taxpayers, slated for construction in 2020. The $2.4M is for something else on Lake Road, but details are sketchy. Another $2.1M traffic light perhaps?
Because the bond is set at $78M and cannot be changed, City officials continue their attempts to justify these budgets by creatively separating line items within the enormous price tag. Take for example the aquatic center building itself. The budget states that the building will cost $37.2M. Proponents are now claiming that this is the real number that should be allocated to the pool portion of the bond. But it is not the real number. It's not even close.
In reality, if $37.2M was the final cost for the pool, the building would not contain furniture. No tables, chairs, desks or sofas. Nor would it contain fitness and workout equipment. It wouldn't contain basketball hoops for the gym, or cash registers at the front desk to take in the $3.1M+ annual revenue needed for the facility to lose $850,000/year. Would they just skip the design fees and build without them? Would the builders fail to seek building permits because the permitting fees aren't in the budget at $37.2M?
Of course not.
Now, ALL of those expenses are classified by the City as "Soft Costs"- with their own line item in the budget of $13M. The confusion has caused some people to believe these expenses are for other items not related to the pool. But it is clear that these expenses are REQUIRED to actually complete the project. They belong solely to the overall aquatic facility construction budget, because they are direct expenditures necessary for project completion. Things like design fees, permitting fees, equipment, and furniture. You can't finish your project without them.
Just like the $3.6M line item for sales tax. It's a State requirement. If you build a $37.2M building, you have to pay it. It's not being allocated for some other purpose. It belongs solely to the overall aquatic facility construction budget.
Additionally, $6.4M has been allocated for "On-site Development". Like the $13M Soft Costs, these expenses pay for even more items directly associated with the aquatic center building. Taxpayers will be forced to pay them to complete the aquatic center project. If they didn't, their new $37.2M building wouldn't have a parking lot. Or a driveway. So they'd have to walk to it. But not on sidewalks, because those building costs aren't included in the $37.2M figure either. To suggest we could somehow skip these costs, or that they don't belong to the overall aquatic facility construction budget- is simply untrue.
So let's add up everything one more time, and remember again what the real costs to build the new Camas Aquatic Center are.
Building: $37.2 million On-site Development: $6.4 million Sales Tax: $3.6 million Soft Costs: $13 million
Construction Contingency: $6 million
GRAND TOTAL (POOL ONLY): $66.2M
That's how much the REAL building budget is, no matter how you spin it. The Firstenburg Center cost Vancouver taxpayers $17M in 2007. That's $21M in today's dollars. And much like the rest of this budget, including the $2.1M traffic light at Lake and Sierra- any other calculation is just another serving of fuzzy math.
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