KVNUFTP

…and nobody with the City of Logan seems concerned:

Bids for a Logan City Justice Building expansion came in higher than city leaders wanted, but Mayor Randy Watts said he still expects to enter into an agreement with a construction company soon.

Earlier this year, the city called it a $3.4 million project, adding another $1 million if the project included the building’s upper floor. Watts had hoped bids this month would come in between $5.4 million and $6 million.

However, the six bids ranged from between $6.2 million and $7 million, causing some sticker shock.

So if we start with the $3.4 million figure, and assume the lowest bidder gets the project, it’s already 82% over budget. That number will assuredly increase; it’s the nature of government projects. The mayor’s reaction can be summed up as “Oh well, whatever”:

“LEED doesn’t come cheap,” Watts said, addressing the cost of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating system that provides a framework for the construction of cleaner, greener buildings. “And, everything in the construction world is going up in leaps and bounds.”

The idea of, I don’t know, scaling back the project to bring the cost in line with projections doesn’t seem to have occurred to anyone. No, the city has other ideas:

City Finance Director Richard Anderson said there are several options for the city to find the extra money.

“There are lots of options,” he said, citing debt restructuring or dipping further into reserves. “We may have to look at other alternatives.”

How long before a tax hike is proposed to cover this? The article later brings up the plans to build a new library, and to ask voters to approve a bond to fund it next summer. If the cost overruns we’re seeing here are the norm, then the last thing we want to do is trust the city leaders with another building project. Is it too late to stop this one?

Craig