Dear Editor:
Re: City takes on $94-million project alone, The Record, May 2.
I am against the city taking on the office tower project. I agree with Coun. Chuck Puchmayr: the risk is too great - $11 million in additional borrowing for the civic centre and parking, and then $33 million for the office tower is a staggering amount of debt to take on.
New Westminster does not have the tax base to support this debt should the project not work out well. Governments should not be in the business of property development; that is not where their expertise lies. Large government projects have a history of failure and leaving the taxpayer to foot the bill for years to come. Once a government is involved, projects tend to change with pressure from special interest groups, and costs spiral out of control. If private companies are not willing to take the risk, there is a reason: the opportunity to make money is low.
The mayor states that the civic centre could not be reasonably supported if there is no office tower. Then perhaps it is time to shelve the entire project. Our city does not need to take on $44 million of new debt to create new homes for a city museum, Lacrosse Hall of Fame and art gallery. Instead, use the civic centre funds for a new recreation complex to replace the aging Canada Games Pool complex, sell the civic centre property to a residential tower developer. A developer could build a new residential tower, increasing the tax base and the downtown population without the city taxpayers having to take on this substantial risk.
Our city taxes are already higher than in many municipalities. I am not willing to foot the bill for this project if it does not work.
Geoff Pomper, New Westminster
