In memory of Don Pelton, who fought the good fight, but didn't live to see the final victory....
It's over at last. Pullman is no longer being held hostage by a tiny group of left-wing radicals. It's V-P Day, Victory Over PARD Day. It's a day of tremendous joy and relief for the vast majority of Pullman residents whio have wanted a Wal-Mart Supercenter.
But there's also sadness and anger at what has been lost.
At the public hearing in 2006, an economic expert testified that a Pullman Wal-Mart Supercenter could do up to $70 million a year in business, resulting in some $500,000 a year in sales tax revenue for the city of Pullman.
According to the Whitman County Assessor's Office, Pullman property tax rate (as of January 2006) wass $16,4361 per thousand of appraised value. The estimated appraisal of the Wal-Mart Supercenter is $20,000,000.00.
$20,000,000.00 X .0164361= $328,722.00
$78,146.00 goes to the City of Pullman
$18,238.00 goes to the hospital
$9,958.00 goes to Emergency Medical Services
$9,958.00 goes to Pullman Metro Park District
$112,784.00 goes to the public schools
Total for Pullman is $229,084.00 per year
$35,334.00 goes to Whitman County
$8914.00 goes to the Port of Whitman
Total for the county is $44,248.00 per year
The State of Washington gets $55,390.00 per year
$500,000 + $229,084 = $729,084 per year from a Pullman Supercenter in sales and property tax revenue alone. That comes out to $1997.49 every day that PARD's endless and frivilous delays cost Pullman.
Total Tax Revenue Lost Since PARD's Site Plan Appeal was Filed Nearly Three Years Ago: $1,991,497.53
We don't know yet what the city's final legal expenses will be, but it won't be a small number, and we taxpayers will never get that money back.
That's money we could have used for our police department, our fire department, our streets, our parks, our schools, and our arts pavilion; things that could have dramatically improved our quality of life.
It's over. And we can never allow something like this to happen again.
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4 comments:
Tom you forgot about the amount of gas Pullman citizens have used driving to Moscow to do shopping they could have done in Pullman. You also forgot about the other local businesses that have been waiting to fill the new mini-malls on Bishop Blvd.
With development comes traffic. I see that as a good thing. That means that people are actually going there. People are spending money in our community. And it is our community that will benefit for once.
We have had to pass leveys to get better parks. The city playfields are in bad shape. They look good from a distance. But did you know that a good rain on one day will cancel the games the FOLLOWING day? We had 12 rain outs this season alone... With money for the parks maybe these problems could be worked on.
It is all about the quality of life. Recreation is a vital part of a thriving community.
To ALL the new businesses that will be locating on and around Bishop, Welcome to Pullman, I can't wait to meet you.
I wonder how many PARD members will be in the first 100 people to enter the PULLMAN wal-mart?
I have heard that Wal-Mart has the names from PARD's petition programmed in their computers and won't allow anyone who signed it to check out, thus helping them keep their vow never to shop there.
Tom,
You should take great pride in having a hand in winning the 1000 Day War.
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