Pullman Held Hostage: Day 997 (The Final Day)

In memory of Don Pelton, who fought the good fight, but didn't live to see the final victory....

It's over at last. Pullman is no longer being held hostage by a tiny group of left-wing radicals. It's V-P Day, Victory Over PARD Day. It's a day of tremendous joy and relief for the vast majority of Pullman residents whio have wanted a Wal-Mart Supercenter.

But there's also sadness and anger at what has been lost.

At the public hearing in 2006, an economic expert testified that a Pullman Wal-Mart Supercenter could do up to $70 million a year in business, resulting in some $500,000 a year in sales tax revenue for the city of Pullman.

According to the Whitman County Assessor's Office, Pullman property tax rate (as of January 2006) wass $16,4361 per thousand of appraised value. The estimated appraisal of the Wal-Mart Supercenter is $20,000,000.00.

$20,000,000.00 X .0164361= $328,722.00

$78,146.00 goes to the City of Pullman
$18,238.00 goes to the hospital
$9,958.00 goes to Emergency Medical Services
$9,958.00 goes to Pullman Metro Park District
$112,784.00 goes to the public schools

Total for Pullman is $229,084.00 per year

$35,334.00 goes to Whitman County
$8914.00 goes to the Port of Whitman

Total for the county is $44,248.00 per year

The State of Washington gets $55,390.00 per year

$500,000 + $229,084 = $729,084 per year from a Pullman Supercenter in sales and property tax revenue alone. That comes out to $1997.49 every day that PARD's endless and frivilous delays cost Pullman.

Total Tax Revenue Lost Since PARD's Site Plan Appeal was Filed Nearly Three Years Ago: $1,991,497.53

We don't know yet what the city's final legal expenses will be, but it won't be a small number, and we taxpayers will never get that money back.

That's money we could have used for our police department, our fire department, our streets, our parks, our schools, and our arts pavilion; things that could have dramatically improved our quality of life.

It's over. And we can never allow something like this to happen again.

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