It was good news for Chesapeake College on Tuesday; during their regular meeting the commissioners’ voted 2-1 to fund the college’s new Allied Health and Athletics building. Commissioners Ron Fithian and William Pickrum voted yay; Commissioner Alex Rasin voted nay.
“I think it’s a really worthwhile proposal by the college, but I can’t support it because it would mean us (borrowing money.) I’m not bonding out anything else because our debt is too great,” said Raisin explaining his vote.
The project would cost a total of $36 million, $27 million would be state funded. The remaining amount would be divided amongst the five supporting counties based on population. Kent County’s share would be the smallest at $1.1 million.
The Allied Health and Athletics building would not only be used for sports but also to house Chesapeake College’s nursing programs. The programs are currently located at Easton Memorial Hospital. However, once the hospital moves to its new location there won’t be any space for the college. If Chesapeake doesn’t move on the project in the next year it will lose the state money.
Fithian said he asked the county’s finance office to look into how much the county owes and when its debts will be paid off. He said that in two years the county’s debt will have decreased by $87,000. If the county voted to move forward with the project its loan payment would be $75,000 a year over a period of 20 years. The county would not have to start paying for the project until Fiscal Year 2014.
“We can go forward with this project if we wanted to without increasing the payment to our debt service,” said Fithian.
Pickrum said the county’s debt was not out of line with any other rural counties in the state and viewed the Chesapeake College proposal as an investment in the future of the region and the county.
Just because Kent County has agreed to support the project does not mean that it has a green light. The majority of the supporting counties have to vote in favor of supporting the project or Chesapeake College will lose the $27 million in state funds.
Geobart says
The spending, spending, spending continues to amaze me.
“Pickrum said the county’s debt was not out of line with any other rural counties in the state…” – “That” is the bar we use to judge the county’s fiscal health and responsibility? I sincerely hope that was an attempt at humor. Have our elected commissioners not been paying attention to this Great Recession and the past policies/actions that got us into this mess? This culture of deep indebtedness and enslaving our future generations to pay it off has got to stop.
Taxpayers’ households have to make cuts when the income stream is curtailed. Why is that such a difficult concept to grasp for our elected officials? It’s called “live within your means”.
I sure hope the voters memories function well come election time.
Ken Noble says
It is not so much the “spending spending spending” that I have a problem with. The Tea Party is obviously toast, but that is fodder for another segue. What I have a problem with is the antique and arbitrary geography that somehow dictates that Wye Mills is some place I should venture to…I mean other than to see the historic mills and stump of the tree and stuff, I am not sure I wanna ever go there, you know.
Locational Analysis is a dynamic thing. In 2011, Wye Mills is not in the right direction anymore. It is simply a gravity model geographic center based on population and distance parameters, but NOT on potentil JOBS. It, like the Worton Recreation Center, just happens to be the place where, if you throw 100 darts at the upper eastern shore, you cluster there. (Worton is NOT the county seat of this county and never will be.) That is to say that the JOBS THAT A LOT OF US NEED (see Liz’z highly astute articles) are in the direction of Cecil County (do not ever say CEEEEcil….if you want to pretend you are from here..which a lot do, it is CESSSSuhl). Anyway, the big BRAC revolution in that direction* THERE,not in Wye Mills. When and if I ever were interested in taking LINUX OPERATING SYSTEM 101, it would be at Cesscil County (or Harford) and not Chesapeake College. As far as working out, frankly I am getting enough exercise regrading the perimeters of three properties in all of this weather!
Convince me that Chesapeake is an important place…beyond the fact that the federal money certainly flows there…but NOT FOR LINUX 101 (which is one to get a job fighting terrorists…Linux is THE operating system of the NSA…)
Ken Noble
[email protected]
Noble Anayltics
Annapolis/Chesertertown
you got a problem?….let’s quantify it
*of course we could build a couple of high rise apartment buildings on our northern shore (high density=smart growth,right?) and run highly secure high speed ferries to Aberdeen Proving Grounds. Every time I sail out of Worton Creek I wonder how WE can help blow up some bombs and make money, you know?
of course a lot of people who read this spy thing…don’t care about ever working again……
Steve Atkinson says
While I agree that the project is worthwhile, I couldn’t believe that It was approved. There are a number of upcoming projects (new radio system, school renovations just to name two) that will need to be funded in the next couple of years that could have the same cost factor or more than this. In fact less than 30 minutes later one was brought up.
What could make matters worst is that this vote could actually be the deciding vote that would force all of the counties involved to pay up. Sometimes it is best to be told you have to expend money than make the decision to do it yourself. Especially when there is a chance enough of the others (some in more dire financial troubles than Kent) would vote not to support it.
I amd afraid I am foreseeing a Tax increase in the future.
Warrior Bob Kramer says
Steve… I was very surprised too that this initiative got two votes… and passed on Tuesday night. I saw this as more debt in a time when we, like the other four counties, had no spare monies laying around. But… this was what got me to thinking otherwise:
…The project would cost a total of $36 million, $27 million would be state funded…
Think about the leveraging factor here. CofK puts up $75,000 per year to get $27 million from the state. I can’t think of any other project that our CC’s have been involved in over the last five years where they could get a return like this on any investment.
Then… when you think that it’s to fund a healthcare/medical services curriculum… which is probably the number one employment industry in CofK… it’s a double down return… because it’s an opportunity for our kids to graduate from KCHS… go to college… get a degree… and be able to return home for a job where they can apply their degree.
I look at it as an economic development investment. And hasn’t this been an issue that many citizens have been after the CC’s to do? While I respect Rasin’s vote from a pure fiscal point of view, I commend Pickrum and Fithian for their foresight. Whether this project actually occurs is at the mercy of some other county now. But… at least our CC’s took an action that can only benefit our citizens and taxpayers in the future.
Keith Thompson says
Warrior Bob writes…”Then… when you think that it’s to fund a healthcare/medical services curriculum… which is probably the number one employment industry in CofK… it’s a double down return… because it’s an opportunity for our kids to graduate from KCHS… go to college… get a degree… and be able to return home for a job where they can apply their degree.”
I’m not sure I’d support this if I’m a commissioner but I think the economic infrastructure development argument has two components here…
#1. The possibility of attracting jobs in Kent Co.
#2. Since one of the largest employers in the county (the medical center) supports this, investment in it may help ensure that this employer stays in the county.