Wednesday, January 21, 2009

ICC Off On Another Borrowing Spree


Let the Illinois Central College Board know how you feel about this travesty:

ICC is off on another "keeping up with the Joneses" building spree. In this case, as I predicted, "the Joneses" is Heartland Community College and IVC.

It's an arms race that no one can win.
They all claim they must build to remain "competitive" and then show how "under taxed" their constituents are compared to the other community college property tax payers. Then the "competition" is further emboldened to start new building and it's a never ending construction war.

It would be different if the burden were born by sales taxes, or the State of Illinois, or the users of the colleges, but NO - it's the "stable and ever ready" property tax trough which is tapped over and over and over again.

The property tax payers should not have to shoulder this burden for rec facilities and such, particularly at this point in the economic curve. We simply must contact these board people who remain totally unaccountable to voters.

What world are they living in?
Here are the details of this latest folly:


The Illinois Central College Board has decided to float bonds to seek funding for up to $33 million for capital and operations purchases and upgrades. The money is to be used as follows-

Capital projects:

• CougarPlex $14.5 million
• Math and laboratory science, Maple Hall $3.8 million
• Culinary Arts Institute $3.5 million

• ICC South campus $1.5 million
• Student Success Center $1 million

• Learning Resource Center $1.5 million

• Student Services $2.5 million

• CAT Dealer Training/DPET courses $1 million

• Perley Building upgrades $1 million

• Thomas Building upgrades $1 million

• Capital projects total $31.3 million Operations
• Technology upgrades $1.12 million
• Furniture and equipment $400,000

• Vehicle and equipment replacement $180,000 Operations total $1.7 million

Capital and operations total $33 million

No comments: