LAST WEEK at the county commission meeting, commissioners approved spending $10,000 for a community fireworks display next year.
This action generated plenty of discussion around the community. The fireworks will be nice to have on July 4, but something more important happened at the commission meeting and there was virtually no community discussion on it.
The county commission approved a $750,000 payment to reduce the debt on the Lyon County Courthouse.
Making extra payments helps reduce the cost of the courthouse because the county will pay less interest over the life of the loan.
Since September, the county has been eligible to make early payments on the courthouse and it has done so. So far the county has paid off $4.2 million, which has saved taxpayers more than a million dollars. The county is on track to have the courthouse paid for by 2011 instead of 2019.
Voters approved paying for the courthouse with a half-cent sales tax. Our community has been generating good sales tax revenue and the county is putting some of that money toward paying down the courthouse debt.
While saving our community a million dollars may not seem as exciting as a Fourth of July fireworks display, this good deed should not go unnoticed.
Christopher White Walker
Editor & Publisher
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Posted by madpoet (anonymous) on July 17, 2008 at 10:33 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Yeah, sure we approved the courthouse. Funny how no one I've spoken too (a lot) will admit voting for that monstrosity. Wheeler was determined to get it and did. Just like the tunnel to the jail that was for prisoner transfer to prevent escapes. I've been told the judges want that reserved as an "escape route" for them and they cart the prisoners around the block again. I think we need new judges since the current ones have way too much influence.
Posted by jayhawker (anonymous) on July 17, 2008 at 11:15 a.m. (Suggest removal)
There was way too much extravagance, especially in District Court, in the new Courthouse. The taxpayers were given a bill of goods, and continue to pay for someone else's opulence. Perhaps the saddest thing of all is that we will need another new one in no more than 40 years. High on extravagance, low on efficient use of our money.
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