Niagara Falls Reporter

City on Hook for Palatial Courthouse
Some $50 million was spent to build it, when originally all the city was required to build was a no-frills building estimated to cost $12 million. Why anyone thought we needed a $50-million-courthouse for a city of 50,000 is a story in itself. What is also hard to fathom is the financing plan. There is a 30-year bond/mortgage to be paid back using casino money. Forget the fact that the Senecas stopped paying. Here is why the plan was ill-advised: The compact was for 14 years; the mortgage/bond for 30. Now the $2.3 million annual payment on an overpriced courthouse is in the general budget and taxpayers, not the Senecas, pay it.

City on Hook for Palatial Courthouse

Some $50 million was spent to build it, when originally all the city was required to build was a no-frills building estimated to cost $12 million.

Why anyone thought we needed a $50-million-courthouse for a city of 50,000 is a story in itself. What is also hard to fathom is the financing plan.

There is a 30-year bond/mortgage to be paid back using casino money. Forget the fact that the Senecas stopped paying.

Here is why the plan was ill-advised: The compact was for 14 years; the mortgage/bond for 30. Now the $2.3 million annual payment on an overpriced courthouse is in the general budget and taxpayers, not the Senecas, pay it.

Niagara Falls Reporter www.niagarafallsreporter.com Sep 25 , 2012