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 Posted: Tue, Oct 7 2008, 7:56 pm EDT Post subject: Re: Editorial: Public input necessary for solution to Cranbury library issues |
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| Library Costs Per Person wrote: | Cost of Plainsboro New Library per resident formula is
11,800,000/ 20,000 = $590/person total cost
that would mean that a similar burden in Cranbury would allow for
$590 * 2500 = 1,475,000 total cost of entire project to be balanced
and if you spread it over 5yrs that's $118 per year for 5 years
But I frankly dont think that Cranbury could ever do it for 1.4mil since the ball field will cost us almost a million already.
So I estimate that the costs will be more like $6-11mil, that's around 8 times more costly then its been for each resident in Plainsboro. That make it over $700 increase per year I estimate. |
so are you saying that if we didnt do the ball field we might have built the library instead? |
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| Posted: Tue, Oct 7 2008, 9:22 pm EDT Post subject: Re: Editorial: Public input necessary for solution to Cranbury library issues |
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| I don't think one should have affected the other but in practical terms my belief is if the ballfield had not happened we may already own the PNC site now and be working on a Library plan there. Not that it makes any more sense. But the outrageous way they snuck in the ballfield under most people's radars raised really got people's attentions. I know I, like others, were actively on the lookout after that for "another ballfield" -- another totally discretionary spending initiative attempted by the majority on the TC with little public discussion and no general vote. So when the PNC purchase issue came before the TC a lot of people noticed right away and didn't trust what would happen if they didn't show up and loudly protest it right away. Perhaps Tom and Wayne would have voted against it no matter what. But I am confident there would not have been as many people who show up to speak against the purchase had it not been for the ballfield. |
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Costs per person
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| Posted: Tue, Oct 7 2008, 10:58 pm EDT Post subject: Re: Editorial: Public input necessary for solution to Cranbury library issues |
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| Quote: | | so are you saying that if we didnt do the ball field we might have built the library instead? |
I didn’t say that, I just stated that building a new library structure is a multimillion dollar project based on prior cost of other new local libraries, and also our prior track record with the ball field as an example. I estimate it at something like $6-11mil and that's almost 8 times more expensive per person in Cranbury then Plainsboro. Most people who are proponents for the new library building really dont understand what a new building will cost their own family. if we rush into this without planning it will be even greater per household then $600/yr increases in property taxes.
I think this is why some proponents of a new building want to rush these decisions even before we start planning for it. Without long-term planning these types of projects become even more expensive to Cranbury taxpayers.
My only consolation right now is that with our current stock market and NJ fiscal/job/real-estate problems will delay any discussions of multimillion dollar spending on a new library building in the next few years, at lest I'm hoping sound reasoning prevails. On top of all those crises, the biggest one is still looming over Cranbury as we all know.
There are common sense solutions to solving all of the issues with the joint library relationship, the crisis is that we cant work together to fix them in a logical way. We were able to do this in the past with great success. |
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