N. 23rd Street Costly to TaxpayersThis letters was shared with RecallPerez.com via the author, who also submitted it to the Sheboygan Press for publication. This letter is to inform the taxpayers of Sheboygan as to why North 23rd Street would be a very costly mistake for the new police station. The article in the paper August 16, 2006 for city to pay the $351,533 for 2.72 acres on North 23rd street to the county is not a good deal for the City. It is a great deal for the county. The breakdown is as follows: 23rd Street Site—2.72 acres assessed value -- $ 710,899 Less 1/3 cost because city pays 1/3 of county taxes -- 236,966 Less Parking lot on corner of 7th and Penn. With 58 stalls. -- 122,400 Total Cost -- $ 351,533
Add Real Construction cost of Parking Lot (Transit Records) Now, how on earth can this be a good deal for City taxpayers? The FUZZY MATH being used to estimate the parking lot on 7th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue is deceiving the citizens of Sheboygan. WAKE UP Sheboygan citizens. Call your Alderpersons and tell them no way do you want this deal. The council thought paying $100,000 per acre was too much for the Van Der Vaart site. That would be a great deal compared to what this property on 23rd is actually costing us. For the price of what we are actually paying for 2.72 acres we could have purchased 7-12 acres from Van Der Vaart. Plus, as tourism increases for the downtown area, and lakefront area, the parking lot on Pennsylvania and 7th street will become more valuable to the city. We’ve known all along that City Hall site is not large enough. It was a bad decision for city taxpayers when we did not build Police Station at Sheridan Park. We would be in the 65,000 sq ft. station with a cost of 10.2 million, which would have included equipment, dispatch, sally port, garage, holding cells, detective division, municipal court, and not destroyed Sheridan Park. West half of park would have been untouched. Isn’t it interesting that when the debate was between Sheridan Park and North 23rd. Street the 2.6 acres at Sheridan Park was not large enough. Now 2.72 acres at North 23rd is large enough. (Not much difference there in my humble opinion). Mayor Perez has cost us millions with the 2-3 year delay, and now he wants a pat on the back because a terrible deal with the County for 23rd street site has been reached. Mayor Perez has shown poor leadership during the last 15 months on this issue with all the site studies. His refusal to negotiate in good faith with Van Der Vaart is also an example. Shared services are not dependent on location. Do not try to fool taxpayers with that issue. It is time to let the Sheboygan Citizens make the site selection. We need a referendum on fall election ballot. Call your alderpersons to propose a vote on the November ballot for building at Sheridan Park, zero site cost to taxpayers, or 23rd Street site. Let the voters decided once and for all.
Dimple Adams |