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Sunday, April 15, 2007
Ind. Courts - Taxpayers irate at costs of Greene County Courthouse upgrade
Here is a long list of earlier ILB entries on the costs of renovation of the Greene County Courthouse.
Today Laura Lane of the Bloomington HeraldTimes reports, in a lengthy story (not available online):
BLOOMFIELD — Greene County taxpayers already have paid $2.5 million more than planned to renovate and expand their 120-year-old brick courthouse in Bloomfield.According to this ILB entry from Dec. 7, 2006, "Greene County is represented in the case by Indianapolis law firm of Drewry Simmons and Vornehm LLP." This entry from Dec. 18 notes that Barnes and Thornberg "is charged with the bond sale on the construction project."More than four years into a project that was supposed to take just two, it’s still not finished.
And residents aren’t finished paying.
Two additional loans — one for $2.5 million and a new one for $4 million — have upped the project’s initial $10.5 million projected cost to $17 million.
Incredulous taxpayers are furious.
“It is a comedy of errors, and it’s costing me a heck of a lot of money,” longtime Greene County farmer Bill White said. * * *
“We could have built a new one for half what they are spending now,” White said. “There comes a time in a building’s life when it has to be replaced. And in this case, financially, that would have been a good move.”
He may well be right.
Last December, the commissioners sought another $4 million in bond anticipation notes — a line of credit — to cover bills that keep coming in. About $800,000 of the amount is for the county’s litigation attorneys, who have been paid nearly $700,000 so far.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on April 15, 2007 10:55 AM
Posted to Indiana Courts