COMMUNITY CENTER UPDATE
At the O'Hara Township Council's special meeting last night (July 15, 2014), bids for the site preparation and landscaping were opened. This part of the total package had to be rebid because the first request for quote did not include some vital items. The result of this bid opening increased the total cost by about $450,000 to $9,195,648. At last report (6/30/14), $7,656,093 had been raised.
For the moment, this raises the required contribution from the taxpayers to a total of $3,539,553.
Again, to put this in perspective, total property tax receipts for the entire township is $2,072,672 per year.
I believe that this is intolerable. Council cannot and must not commit the taxpayers to this unnecessary use of tax dollars. We must use our scarce resources to take care of those items that are required, such as road repair and park upkeep. In addition, we are required by the County to build a new sewage pumping station in the Saxonburg Blvd. area next year. This will cost somewhere between $3 & $5 million. If the Community Center is built, it is almost a sure thing that taxes will be raised.
Tom Portante
Wow, it looks like we're going to have to raise TAXES in O'HARA TWP to pay the 2+ MILLION $$$ that will be needed to fund this new community center. Has a study been done recently to determine just how often the residents of O'Hara would use a new community center? I know in the past the cost of using the gym for a kids basketball game or fun was prohibitive and the gym was used more for tennis instructors giving lessons or the like. So. I guess my first question is : Whose going to benefit the most from the $2+million, residents of O'Hara or someone else.
ReplyDeleteGreg Nickel
Ward 1 Dist 1
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DeleteThe total cost is now $9,195,648 +/- with $5,656,093 of outside money raised leaving $3,539,555 of taxpayer money required to close the gap.
DeleteThe latest news is that the final number looks like the CCA is short by $1,344,419. This will raise the taxpayer's total amount to at least $3,344,419. The CCA has indicated that they will ask for a loan from the Township to bridge the difference. My concern is that there are no assets within the CCA to repay the loan. They are not legally accountable for repayment. If they go out of business, there is no way to recover any money. In addition, a loan of this amount would require a repayment over 10 years at 1% interest of $17,170 per month. For 20 years, the amount is still $12,544 per month. I don't see that this operation can generate anywhere near enough cash flow to cover this payment. The other issue is collateral for the loan. The only thing that can be used is the building itself, but the building is already owned by the Township. Therefore, if the loan is not repaid, the township cannot repossess a building that it already owns.
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