"Free money" - a great example of why we're $19 Trillion in the hole - Granite Grok

“Free money” – a great example of why we’re $19 Trillion in the hole

NH Democrats say its free moneyFree money!  Free money!“; all the politicians and spenders love “Free money” when they deceive themselves and lie to us that “it won’t cost you a penny”!  Now Concord NH is doing it again.  Loudon Road is the main commercial drag in town and it is time to do a re-paving.  And once again, “the kicker” is that “free money” is available to do that from a higher level of government IF (and only IF) it is done according to its diktat.  Repaving is a $1.1 million cost to local taxpayers (and keeping its current 4 lane configuration); the State pays pretty much the whole thing if Concord does it the way the State demands with 2 lanes and a “turn lane” in the middle.  This quote from Concord City Councilor Keith Nyhan sums it up:

“I think really logically for me, the only option is to go with the three-lane design,” Nyhan said. “Take the quote ‘free money’ from the federal government, save our own taxpayer dollars.”

Is this the level to which we as a nation have dropped, that it is always a case to foist off costs onto others?

Oh, and is Nyhan signaling a “take the money and screw’em anyways” with this one?

Nyhan said he’s inclined to try the proposed design and repaint it to the old configuration if it doesn’t work out.

Oh, but those “strings attached” seem to be a constant in today’s American governance.  I’m betting that “it doesn’t work out” will be never be proved  and if Concord does do a repaint, just like my hamlet’s band stand and ice rink, the bill will still end up on Concord taxpayers.

Where it should have started and stayed with in the first place.  Local needs should be locally paid because it is locally used.  Why should somebody in Portsmouth or Keene or Littleton be forced to pay for it when they may never use that road?  And no, just saying “well, I bet they used OPM (Other Peoples Money) in their town anyways, so it all works out”.  No, it doesn’t.

Full piece (emphasis mine with a couple more comments):

The city will hold two meetings next month to hear residents’ opinions on a proposed reconfiguration of traffic on Loudon Road.

Concord’s city councilors decided Monday it had been too long since they had invited the public to weigh in on the project – especially since its terms have changed.

To improve safety, the council decided in 2014 to trim four lanes of traffic down to three – with a center turning lane – between Hazen Drive and D’Amante Drive, but the federal funding awarded for the project temporarily dried up. By the time it was restored, disgruntled travelers of the corridor had made themselves known, prompting reconsideration.

Ah, the first shot at “strings attached” – and again, the outlook that if someone ELSE is willing to pay the bill, well then, be my guest and full steam ahead on that project!  Why bother to set REAL priorities when someone else is paying the freight.  If it was all that important, fund it yourself.

Councilor Candace Bouchard said during that lag time she heard “loud and clear from many different constituents that just were not in support of this project,” worrying that it would intensify congestion and make a dangerous stretch of road worse.

That outcry led to the council’s January decision to revisit alternatives. Upon the city engineer’s report back Monday, the councilors learned that maintaining the status quo – or making slight improvements – means turning away more than $1.3 million in grants.

And make this observation as well – Other Peoples’ Money always distorts local decisions, policies, and fiscal issues.  How is this supposed to be good local responsibility?

It’s a counterintuitive situation, in which the dramatic overhaul won’t require any new taxes to be raised, while a simple paving job proves relatively expensive.

Wake up – if it isn’t costing you for THIS project, you can be sure you are paying for a similar project SOMEWHERE ELSE.  And that is the lie that these types of folks won’t talk about.  Frankly, it’s MAD (i.e., the Cold War’s Mutually Assured Destruction) on a fiscal basis.

What, you don’t think that our national (or State) debt isn’t ruinous in the long term?  And we just seem to keep barreling down that fiscal brick wall because everyone thinks there is no end to OPM and keep playing this idiotic game “we gotta get ours”.  Hey chump, somebody else “got yours” because your politicians aren’t keeping yours locally and letting it go somewhere else.

The state Department of Transportation said resurfacing the road in its current configuration “will have no safety benefit” and therefore will not be eligible for Highway Safety Improvement Program grant funding, city engineer Ed Roberge said. Likewise, an alternative plan to close and shrink some curb cuts – addressing the unusual quantity of access points on Loudon Road – is only worth $120,000 in grant assistance.

Regardless of lane changes, the road needs paving. That alone will cost the taxpayers $1.1 million.

Why aren’t the “Concord Fathers” willing to man-up and saying “Hey, our responsibilities” and make their citizens pay for it.  If local taxpayers really believe that it should be a priority, they’ll go along with it.  If not, it wasn’t a real priority in the first place.

But in a package of safety improvements, including the three-lane design with a center lane for making left turns, the cost of paving is folded into a $1.4 million grant administered by the state DOT.

For the residents who objected to the proposed redesign, that raises the question: Are you willing to pay to maintain the status quo?

Wrong question – it really should be “Should local costs be paid for locally?  Should local needs be the responsibility of the locals? ”  And really, what is the morality behind having others pay your way?  Isn’t this just welfare at the municipal level?

At a neighborhood outreach meeting on the Heights early next month, and a public hearing at the council’s next meeting, residents are asked to give their input.

“Now we’re back to that question: What do the citizens of Concord want?” Councilor Gail Matson asked in an interview. “Do they want basically a $1.5 million increase to their taxes to pave that road? Or do they want to try something that might work?”

NO, Gail Matson, it isn’t “Or do they want to try something that might work?” – you’re just giving them an excuse to say “make somebody else pay”.

Councilor Keith Nyhan said he’s been skeptical of engineers’ plans in the past, including a roundabout and the new Main Street design, only to learn they’ve “proven to work quite well.”

“And then we’re faced with this other concept,” he said of the three-lane Loudon Road design. “History being a good teacher says it’s probably going to work pretty well the way the engineers have designed it.”

Given the more than $1 million difference between the alternatives, Nyhan said he’s inclined to try the proposed design and repaint it to the old configuration if it doesn’t work out. City Manager Tom Aspell said in an interview that the city could potentially revert back to four lanes after accepting the grant money if it could prove the new design didn’t improve safety.

And how much effort will be spent in trying to do just that – is this “future fraud” just to get the re-paving done on the cheap to the Concord?  Worse things have happened in Government, right (gee, haven’t I become cynical after 10 years of blogging and watching government weasel it’s way around).

And then the worst of the quote from Nyhan that exhibits how low one can go

“I think really logically for me, the only option is to go with the three-lane design,” Nyhan said. “Take the quote ‘free money’ from the federal government, save our own taxpayer dollars.”

Yep, because we all know that the Obamacash stash is never ending, right?  How’s that being a good steward, Nyhan?

Roberge said he would prepare a 30-minute presentation that he’d bring to the Heights community center early next month, potentially Sept. 7.

Bouchard, who represents some of the residents of the Loudon Road corridor, said she thought it would be helpful to bring the neighborhood together for a conversation. She said residents told her they were anxious about cars going head-to-head in the center turning lane and that traffic already backs up at intersections with the additional lane. She also said some people worried drivers would use their neighborhoods as shortcuts to avoid Loudon Road.

“I think there’s a lot more education and explaining to do before we have a full council hearing,” she said…

(H/T: Concord Monitor)

>