Letter: Should this renovation be undertaken?

To the Editor:

The April 15 Kendall County Record reports a $1.4 million bond issue is necessary to renovate the Minkler Road Pickerill house donated to the Forest Preserve in 2009. A state grant will provide $828,000 for the work when completed. Other projects are included.

The generosity of the donors of the Pickerill-Piggot estate should be acknowledged. However, was it then anticipated that renovation 12 years later might be as much as $1 million? Post-restoration, will visitor donations support upkeep of maybe $5,000 per year? Utilities and heat; 1% to 3% maintenance, $10,000 to 30,000 a year; and guides? What would have been done had no state grant materialized? Demolition?

The article mentions a $2 per taxpayer additional cost of the planned improvements. We pay 2% of our property tax to the Forest Preserve. The $828,000 grant is not free – we pay state taxes to support all grants. Should this renovation be undertaken?

Suppose the property were sold to private owners who improve it – and pay property taxes on the $1 million at 2.5% a year – $25,000 – saving the Forest Preserve maybe $25,000 to $35,000, docent/caretaker expense; and taxpayers maybe $100,000/year?

Government grants are like rock soup: You must then add expensive ingredients. Fear Greeks bearing gifts?

Alphonse I. Johnson

Lisbon