Eye On Illinois: If you build it … you still have to pay to run it

When a candidate says “government should be run like a business,” red flags go up.

Governments should not be run like businesses. Fire and highway departments aren’t supposed to turn a profit, they’re supposed to provide services. To everyone equally.

That said, governments also give themselves the power to make decisions businesses wouldn’t ever consider, and such fiscal mismanagement fairly invites the kind of scrutiny a bottom-line manager brings to the table.

Last week, the Quad-City Times reported on stalled Senate Bill 1308, which would’ve appropriated $7.2 million toward Western Illinois University’s QC Innovation Campus. The state built the Moline facility in 2012 but has never set aside money for operations.

If this sounds familiar – especially to readers in that corner of Illinois – that’s because it echoes the folly of the super maximum prison the state built in Thomson for $140 million at the turn of the century. Gov. George Ryan delayed opening to save $50 million in annual operating costs, then lawmakers and succeeding governors kept kicking the can until the federal government took it off Illinois’ hands in 2012 for $165 million.

Figuring the actual costs of keeping the facility functional for a decade, to say nothing of direct and indirect damage to the communities sold on the prison as an economic engine and a protracted battle between Thomson and Pontiac when Gov. Rod Blagojevich suggested closing the latter prison to open the former, and the entire debacle remains painful for many in and around Whiteside and Carroll counties.

WIU-QC is tiny by comparison. And because the university believed in its mission, leadership directed tuition revenue to try to keep things going until that became unsustainable amidst a larger (and ongoing) budget crisis. With the prison, there was no viable option other than General Assembly appropriations. With education and other state obligations, it’s not unheard of for Springfield to fund capital with locals accepting operating obligations.

But even after separating those apples and oranges, we’re still left with a scenario where lawmakers, in the same year the state closed the Thomson book, built something without knowing if it could be staffed and supported.

Six Flags doesn’t build water parks only to leave pools empty and skip hiring lifeguards. McDonald’s doesn’t open restaurants, but forget to order french fries and staff the kitchens. I wouldn’t buy a car if I couldn’t afford gas or insurance.

It’s always fair to debate whether a particular government expansion or investment is worth taxpayers’ contributions and valid to have that discussion within the context of societal benefits versus profit motives. But ultimately, we’re faced with a common-sense question: why build or buy anything without a reasonable guess at whether it’s affordable to operate?

• Scott T. Holland writes about state government issues for Shaw Local News Network. He can be reached at sholland@shawmedia.com.