Your Tax Dollars At Work

April 4, 2010

Your Tax Dollars At Work

Filed under: Probable Cause — Bill @ 5:05 pm

Comments (7)

7 Comments

The Kroc Center gift of $3,000,000 from the city and taxpayers of Coeur d’Alene was entered as line item in the budget.

Comment by Dan — April 4, 2010 @ 5:14 pm
The reason your budget info is important, Dan, as you well know, is that the city claimed, at the time, that they were giving the $3 Million to the Parks Foundation, which is a private organization. Then the Parks Foundation was to give the money to the Salvation Army Church, for the Kroc Center.

Of course it was another of their shell games, but they didn’t even care to cover it well.

Comment by mary — April 5, 2010 @ 8:21 am
Are the LCDC funds separate?

Something is missing in the chain from donated land to the Parks Foundation and the city’s direct fund donation to the Kroc Center.

I still think that Coeur d’Alene residents should be given priority in memberships due to the city funding.

Comment by Susie Snedaker — April 5, 2010 @ 8:50 am
Let me add that the Kroc Center is beautiful and a wonderful addition to our community. I applaud those who worked hard so Coeur d’Alene could qualify for this center. What I DON’T applaud is the use of taxpayer money for a private church facility without a vote of the people. The Mayor and City Council didn’t even hold a meeting where the public could speak to the issue. They just rammed it through.

The PROCESS does count; the end does not justify the means. If they had put it up for a vote OR taken another 6 months or a year to raise the extra funds from private donations, OR cut back on some of the costly extras, this facility could have been built without the taint of controversy that it still retains in the eyes of many.

Comment by mary — April 5, 2010 @ 8:53 am
Something I have never understood, was that 3 million required in order to receive the “grant”? I believe land had to be provided, but …..? And wasn’t the endowment 70 Million? Does anybody know exactly how much the total construction was? And how is the endowment meant to be used? This whole endeavor was murky to say the least. Yes, it is a great addition to this area, but a gift….not so much. I have never received a gift I had to pay for. As I understood originally, CDA was to receive a gift (the center) from the Kroc foundation, administered by the SA. And the endowment was to support this gift in perpetuity. Murky pretty well covers it!

Comment by rochereau — April 5, 2010 @ 9:34 am
The city had to provide the land, but there was no stipulation that it was city-owned land or that the city had to purchase the land. It could have all been handled through fund-raising.

There were three sites the SA was looking at. They liked the old Adams Bros. property because of its location off the freeway.

By the way, when you research other Kroc Centers around the county, you’ll find most of the controversy surrounds the location and how the cities acquire the land. In one case, the land was to be converted from a city park, but the citizens rallied and fought that decision. In another location, funds from the city’s gambling taxes are being used to finance the Kroc Center. The untold story is that the smooth acquisition of a Kroc Center is the exception, not the rule.

Comment by Dan — April 5, 2010 @ 10:25 am
The child-like typeface on the church sign is a nice and subtle touch.

Comment by Susie Snedaker — April 6, 2010 @ 9:23 am

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April 4, 2010

Your Tax Dollars At Work

Don’t worry — Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, City Attorney Mike Gridley said there was no problem spending $3,000,000 in tax dollars on this project. The money wasn’t being spent on a church.

7 Comments