By Jim McCune The burden of debt is as destructive as subjugation by conquest. That is but one of 28 principles of liberty identified by our founding fathers. Is that principle no longer applicable in the 21st century? Have we evolved to a new standard that debt is now a prudent principle for taxpayers to follow? On Feb. 17, the Pierce County Council voted (described by some as bold and showing leadership) to allow the county to issue tax-exempt bonds to build a state-of-the-art, 330,000-square-feet general services building at $401 a square foot, plus garage and parking, using the federal, lease-to-own plan called 63-20.-á In 2009, the county executive's office developed visions, or goals, for Pierce County. I'm not aware of any constituents involved in that visioning process. It was determined that improving the efficiency of delivering general services was a priority; that a lack of centralized services was an impediment; and owning, rather than leasing, would save millions of dollars.-áA Tacoma News Tribune article in July of 2013 said the original plan was $67 million and is now $97.5 million; 20 positions would be eliminated, plus other stipulations.-á Fast-forward to now. The price of the building (not including parking) has increased another $30 million. On a split vote, the county authorized the executive to issue $142.5 million in tax-exempt bonds for the purposes of constructing a general services building (GSB). Ordinance 2015-2s committed you, the taxpayer, to a yearly payment of approximately $8 million for 30 years and another $70,000 a year for management services. This ordinance comes with many assumptions in order to claim "no tax increases,GÇ¥ such as cutting 38-plus positions to save over $4 million a year; saving over $72,000 a year on fleet services; the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department, which has never paid rent, can now pay $1 million a year; the savings will for sure offset enough funds to cover the lease payments. The bid for 339 surface parking stalls is $8,254 each. The 622 undersurface stalls are $24,474 each. I don't know if any will be sized for trucks. Seasoned businessmen asked for additional time to further research the late-released details of this project. They were denied. No one from the Third Council District requested a "yesGÇ¥ vote, nor did they volunteer to be the county's workforce to finance county goals.-á The promises (efficiency and save millions) created to pitch the GSB project are virtually identical to the promises made by the state for the Wheeler Building, aka, Department of Information Services (DIS). It, too, used 63-20 financing. (FYI: This method of financing preserves the county's usable debt. Think about what that means.) Then-governor Christine Gregoire vetoed any audits of the project in 2011. Headlines in 2013: High-tech center near Capitol needs $34.4 million subsidy.-á -á Pierce County government serves 76 percent of the population. Of that 76 percent, how many actually use county services on a weekly or yearly basis? Should we be spending millions of dollars to consolidate services rarely accessed by most citizens? Do you want to navigate over 1,200 employees, hundreds of citizens, drive in city traffic, or wait for a bus to run in for a document? Our current lease is around $21 a square foot. The new building starts at about $29 per square foot, and is limited to $36. This price does not include maintenance. We were given no options to renovate, only build and relocate. Government is not static. The assurances made for this building suggest that it will be all we need for beyond 30 years and it will save us millions. If we could shrink county government and need less space, the 63-20 financing scheme limits what kind of business can lease space in this building.-áVery few tenants would qualify financially to lease at rates of $36 a square foot. The county's population is around 820,000. The Third Council District is 99.6 percent unincorporated, 657 square miles, represents 39 percent of the total county, and 42.6 percent of unincorporated Pierce County. We have two Sheriff Department deputies, per shift, to cover that area. Is your priority a palace or police, government goals or your goals? An office in a new building won't make anyone a better representative. We must live with, and pay for, the consequences of this decision for decades.-áI believe benefits were overstated, costs were underestimated, and we were presented with a false urgency.-á -á Jim McCune, who voted against the general services building project, is the Pierce County Council member from the Third District, which includes the south portion of the county.
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