A couple of weeks ago, a state legislator told me that the cost to complete Statehouse renovations is being projected to go as high as $320 million and, of course, it’s way behind schedule. We’ve already crossed the $285 million threshold and are well on our way to the $320 million figure.
The original budget was supposed to be $80 – $120 million which is a huge sum in and of itself. But I started thinking about the new figure: $320,000,000. That’s almost 1/3 of a billion dollars – an astronomical amount of money to spend on renovating one building. I started researching it further and here are just a few things I’ve come up with so far.
1. $320 million divided by 2.6 million Kansans means that every man, woman and child in the state is being stuck with a bill for $123.00 for this one project alone. A family of four will have to pick up a tab of almost $500 just to renovate the Statehouse.
2. Divided equally between each state legislator, that’s just shy of $2 million per legislator in capitol renovations. That ought to make for some pretty plush offices. If I did my math right, that’s approximately $1,000 per square foot to remodel the Statehouse (an existing building), compared to current construction costs for nice, new, modern homes which I believe are running around $100 – $150 per square foot.
3. The Statehouse took 37 years (between 1866 and 1903) to build at a total cost of $3,200,588.92. Adjusted for inflation, that would be $75,748,308. 90 in today’s dollars. Yes, I said $75 million.
4. With the same money that we are spending on remodeling the Statehouse, the men who initially constructed the building could have demolished and REBUILT the Kansas Statehouse FOUR TIMES.
5. As another point of reference, the Empire State Building (completed in 1931) in New York City cost $24,718,000 to build. Adjusted for inflation, that would be $295,469,214 today – $25 million LESS than what we’re spending just to remodel an existing building – the Kansas Statehouse.
6. Kauffman (Royals) Stadium, which seats almost 41,000 people, was completed in 1973 at a cost of $70 million. Adjusted for inflation, that’s $343,368,827 today or just barely more than we’re spending to remodel the Statehouse, again, an existing building.
7. $320,000,000 is enough to run the Kansas Highway Patrol for three years with almost $50 million left over. It’s enough to give every soldier serving in Iraq a bonus of at least $2,000.
WHO IS SUPPOSED TO BE MINDING THE STORE ON THIS?
When this much money starts getting thrown around, it creates a HUGE opportunity for corruption. Somebody with subpoena power really needs to look into this. When you start bringing these numbers down out of the stratosphere and start actually establishing some points of reference, it’s shocking to realize how much we’re spending.
My question is, why doesn’t anyone with any authority in state government raise these questions? Rep. Peggy Mast (R-Emporia) tried to blow the whistle on the soaring costs related to the Statehouse renovation project last year. Legislative leadership just sort of yawned. There was an amendment introduced in the Kansas Senate in 2007 to cap spending on Statehouse renovations. Unbelievably, IT FAILED. Should we be surprised then when the cost continues to soar with no end in sight? That vote signaled to those who would pillage the taxpayer’s money that the register is standing open. The Senate as much as said to the contractors, consultants, architects and various other individuals who get a hook into projects like this, “Help yourself! Take what you want!”
The Kansas press is worthless when it comes to exposing waste and corruption in Kansas. At this point, the only thing that can be done is to raise the alarm with the people who can get the attention of those in authority…the voters.
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Written and researched by Kris Van Meteren, a Kansas taxpayer…
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