The numbers were announced two weeks ago, so residents came with their own questions last week as the commissioners unveiled a preliminary cost analysis for the open space acquisition option for the Bancroft campus.
The borough’s redevelopment counsel, Ed McManimon, revealed the cost analysis estimate for the campus’s purchase after the commissioners asked him to look at some real estimates and get a basic idea of what it would cost taxpayers.
Commissioner Ed Borden stressed several times that this was not an endorsement of purchasing the property or a proposal of any kind.
McManimon estimated that the total capital cost of the proposed project would be about $19.5 million if the borough could purchase the property for a previously reported amount of $12 million. Using the maximum amount of green acres, county, and open space funding, this total could be reduced to $14.275 million, he reported.
In the end, for the average assessed homeowner in Haddonfield it would mean a $271 annual increase over the next 20 years. The average assessed value of a home in Haddonfield is $491,000. Each $1 million increase or decrease in the project means an annual increase or decrease of $16 from the $271 figure for taxpayers.
The costs could very well come down, McManimon said, as he admitted to being very conservative with his estimates.
“The worst thing you can do is lowball a project to get people to approve of a plan, and then report to them later that it will cost more than was originally expected,” he said.
However, some residents were skeptical of the numbers and the baseline point of Bancroft selling the campus for $12 million. Joe Haro said that the Bancroft representatives have reported on several occasions that a $12 million price for the campus would not afford them an opportunity to relocate from the borough.
If the borough purchased the campus for $15 million, McManimon reminded the audience that it would result in the annual tax increase for the average assessed homeowner to go up $48 from the original $271 figure.
Haro also questioned the commissioners about what would be done about the ongoing library issue in town. How would it be possible, he asked, to float a 20-year bond for $12 million to $15 million and still address the need for a new or revamped library?
“I think it would be very difficult to do both,” Commissioner Jeff Kasko said.
Being so indebted with those two major bond initiatives would most likely force people out of town, he said, especially the senior citizen residents who are on fixed incomes.
Kasko did express optimism that the borough would be in position for a possible referendum question on a new or refurbished library in November 2012.
Several residents also expressed concerns that the cost of an artificial turf field is driving the cost of the project up unnecessarily. When did we come to the conclusion that an artificial turf field was a must have for the project, Janet Hallahan asked the commissioners.
It costs $1.25 million to construct the field, she said, and has an annual cost of $75,000 for upkeep of the field.
Mayor Tish Colombi said that with the amount of children participating in youth sports and the “deplorable” condition of the Haddonfield Memorial High School football field, it had been suggested that an artificial turf field would reduce the wear and tear on other borough fields and decrease annual maintenance costs.
Haddonfield School District Superintendent Richard Perry and Board of Education President Steven Weinstein both attended the meeting, but did not speak.
