To follow up on the Library money discussion we had here a couple days ago, I received info back from the city. The Finance Director, Troy Tymeson, emailed me the following answer to my question about whether the city had loaned the library money:
“The City did not loan money to the library because it is not a separate part of the City like a utility. It does receive property taxes in order to support operations. There is an account receivable from the Library Foundation to the City.
The City entered into a partnership with the Library Foundation on the 19th of December 2006. The Memorandum of Agreement states that the Library Foundation agrees to contribute $2,358,900 to the new Library Building. The Foundation paid $200,000 on 1/2/07, $1,158,900 on 2/1/07, $300,000 on 2/5/08 and they have agreed to pay another $300,000 on 1/31/09 and another $300,000 on 1/31/10. The Foundation has also contributed $100,000 towards the purchase and installation of floor coverings.”
What do you think? Any other questions or comments?
So does this mean the City funneled the money through the Library Foundation? And pray tell, what is the Library FoundatioN and who is on the board, and what is/was its purpose?
“We can’t give it directly to the library, but we can give it to the Library Foundation which in turn will give it to the library? Makes sense to me – NOT!
reddy
Comment by reddy — March 19, 2008 @ 5:35 pm
reddy,
Here’s the party-line answer: The Library Foundation is a private foundation, not part of the City government. It is an IRC 501-c-3 tax exempt organization. By donating land, money, stuff, money, etc., money to the Foundation, you can claim it as a charitable deduction on your income taxes. Isn’t that swell.
Here’s the cynical answer: As a private foundation, its meetings are not subject to the Idaho Open Meeting Law and its records are not subject to the Idaho Public Records Law. That allows it to conceal some movements of assets behind the corporate veil. That allows it to enter into private contracts not subject to public scrutiny. In some respects a foundation like this engages in something akin to a form of lawful money laundering. It changes the value of the asset donated from taxable to tax exempt. If it operates legally, it’s okay. If it allows itself to be used to illegally conceal or move assets, the IRS gets very very angry.
Comment by Bill — March 19, 2008 @ 7:46 pm
Thanks for the explanation, Bill. Boy, there must be a lot of working behind the scenes to make sure all this is legitimate. May be legitimate but sure does smell funny.
Comment by reddy — March 19, 2008 @ 8:55 pm
Mary, the next time you talk with Troy please ask him who empowered him to make the deal with the Lake City Development
Corporation regarding the “Public Safety” building approved by the Coeur d’Alene city council on Tuesday evening. When
I watched the LCDC meeting today, the original proposal presented by Troy Tymeson was for LCDC to pay the total cost
for for the construction of the new “Public Safety” building now. Repayment to the LCDC coffers would take place in
2009 for one-half of the cost;paid by the city of Coeur d’Alene. After an excellent analysis of why this was coming to the Lake City Development Corporation at the 11th hour by LCDC Board member Dave Patzer, the motion was made and
approved to fund the project under the following conditions. LCDC will pay for the construction project upfront. The next part of the equation will be that the city will repay one-half of the cost to LCDC in 2009. Here’s the rub; the final part of the equation calls for the city of Coeur d’Alene to forgive part of the debt the LCDC has to the city.
Who gave Tymeson the right to make this deal? Watch the replay!!! Although not recognized by acting chair, Jim Elder
I wonder if Sgt. Wood was in the audience since this is her pet project? I didn’t vote for Tymeson,any of the LCDC
board members or even Sgt. Wood if she was there. This just isn’t right.!!! What happened to our “Rainy Day Funds?” I guess that they are all spent. Dave Patzer gets it, but the weak responses by the other LCDC Board members were
predictible yet appalling especially Councilman Goodlander(remember this next election) and Hassell(remember this last election.) IT IS OUR MONEY.
Comment by doubleseetripleeye — March 20, 2008 @ 12:48 am
the spread between LEGAL and ETHICAL seem to become wider and wider. the library foundation,the parks foundation the ever wonderful l.c.d.c. who is going to loan us OUR MONEY for a public safety building then we have the privilige of paying them back, and with what our money? the shell game on steroids?
Comment by casper — March 20, 2008 @ 6:34 am
doubleseetripleeye,
I watched and burned a DVD of the LCDC meeting as well.
My opinion of Dave Patzer has gone up immensely. He quite correctly chastised Police Chief Wayne Longo and Police Captain Steve Childers for not having the foresight to have requested this building in the police department’s financial plan. (Longo and Childers should have been ashamed of the exceedingly poor presentation Childers made to both Council and the LCDC. I’m beginning to wonder if the City hired Longo as another go-along-to-get-along chief like Carpenter was.) Patzer strongly objected to the LCDC being used to bail out city administrators who are allowed by the Mayor and City Council to get away with poor planning. And to his everlasting credit, Patzer voted against this really bad idea.
Incidentally, when Childers wasn’t puffing the PR value of the Museum Mausoleum Fireworks Booth, he was mentioning how this would benefit the fire department. Where was the fire department? Why wasn’t Kenny Boy or Lauper there pushing this as well? Wouldn’t you think that if it was so important to them, they would have at least done a memo supporting it? Nope, nothing.
Jim Elder is a poor excuse for a presiding officer. I was incensed when he invited the talking head from the Downtown Business Gang to sit at the table and offer his endorsement of this bad idea. I wonder how ol’ Jimbo would have reacted had an informed opponent walked up to the table, sat down, and demanded to be recognized. He should have thrown Troy Tymesen out of the meeting when Tymesen expressed a not so thinly veiled threat that there would be hell to pay if the LCDC dared not to fund the project already approved by the Mayor and City Council on Tuesday night.
Since you watched the meeting, you watched and heard Commissioner Davis offer the motion to spend $50K from a particular fund. The motion came after a lot of political posturing about supporting the police, etc. It was only after the motion had been made and seconded that anyone thought to ask how much money was in the fund the $50K was coming from. That fund had about $75K in it before the LCDC voted to bail out Childers’ and Wood’s and Longo’s really poorly conceived project.
But like I said, only Dave Patzer showed some integrity by speaking and voting against this project.
Memo to Dave Patzer: Expect an early morning phone call (on speakerphone) from the Mayor with Wendy Gabriel and Warren Wilson singing backup. Expect to be told that a majority of the other LCDC commissioners have signed a letter stating you are a detriment to their morale and fragile sensibilities, so for the good of the community, you are being removed from the LCDC. But again, Dave, thank you for finally standing up for what was right. Too bad your fellow Commissioners, Chief Longo, and Captain Childers are willing to allow the officers of the Coeur d’Alene Police Department to be turned into the private security force for the Downtown Association, the Chamber of Commerce, and Ironman.
Comment by Bill — March 20, 2008 @ 7:08 am
Din’t the Mayor and the city use the Parks Foundation in a similar money shell game to get city funds into the Kroc Center?
Comment by Wallypog — March 21, 2008 @ 7:26 am
Please note that Denny Davis lives one block away from the park. I wonder if the police stationed in the bunker will be issuing parking tickets in the Fort Grounds.
Comment by Susie Snedaker — March 22, 2008 @ 8:17 am