The Right Note is a weekly opinion column published on Thursdays. The views and opinions expressed in the column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ARLnow.com.
The argument was never really about whether or not Arlington would have a year-round homeless shelter. It always centered around whether or not to spend $2-3 million to retrofit the old shelter versus moving it to 2020 14th Street N. where neighbors did not want it, and spending considerably more than the retrofit would cost.
This week, the County Board approved the construction contract to begin the extensive work on the new location. The construction price tag is as much as $6.6 million. This is on top of $1.5 million in design and administrative costs, and over $750,000 for furnishings, security and IT equipment.
These are not the only costs that should be considered when looking at the shelter. The Board paid just over $27 million for the building in late 2012. Just two months later, it was assessed at just $21.4 million – which was an increase of nearly $3.5 million over the year before. For 2014, the assessment is up to $22.9 million.
Whether you think the Board paid 50 percent too much for the building based on the 2012 assessment, or just 26 percent too much based on the 2013 assessment, one thing is clear — the Board overpaid for the property. And, at nearly $36 million when all is said and done, the Board may have paid over 10 times more than a retrofit would have cost.
In the same week we hear from Arlington County staff that a big reason there are so many potholes is that the roads have not been properly maintained.
It is the same modus operandi I write about often in this space — our County Board is not ashamed about overspending on the big ticket items while pushing some of the basics to the back burner. Sometimes it makes you wonder if Arlington County means “spend indiscriminately” in Latin?
Mark Kelly is a former Arlington GOP Chairman and two-time Republican candidate for Arlington County Board.