City Hall
Licata to Present MOHAI Compromise
City council member Nick Licata will introduce a compromise on funding for the Museum of History and Industry to relocate from Montlake to the Armory building in the new South Lake Union Park at this afternoon's council meeting.
A six-member city council committee agreed, over Mayor Mike McGinn's objections, to give MOHAI up to $47 million in state reimbursements for land owned by the city and for MOHAI's current building, which will be displaced by construction of the new 520 bridge; McGinn wanted to keep up to $7 million of that money for the city, arguing that MOHAI got more money from the state than the city was initially led to believe—and given the windfall, MOHAI should share the wealth. (The city faces a $67 million budget shortfall next year.)
Licata's compromise would effectively rearrange the payout to MOHAI and allow the city to hold on to several million dollars of the $47 million for the next two years, releasing it to MOHAI in 2013. The deal would provide "several million dollars" to pay for one-time city expenditures on programs that would otherwise be cut, Licata said this morning---things like library collections, youth employment programs, and food banks.
Licata said MOHAI agreed to his proposal; only McGinn appears to be a holdout. "I have trouble understanding his objections," Licata said. "The clearest is that he wants to hold on to that money forever," whereas Licata's proposal would reimburse MOHAI eventually. Moreover, Licata said, under the mayor's proposal, the city wouldn't get the money until late 2012 or 2013---too late to deal with the current budget crunch.
I have a call in to McGinn's office to get the mayor's take on Licata's MOHAI proposal.
A six-member city council committee agreed, over Mayor Mike McGinn's objections, to give MOHAI up to $47 million in state reimbursements for land owned by the city and for MOHAI's current building, which will be displaced by construction of the new 520 bridge; McGinn wanted to keep up to $7 million of that money for the city, arguing that MOHAI got more money from the state than the city was initially led to believe—and given the windfall, MOHAI should share the wealth. (The city faces a $67 million budget shortfall next year.)
Licata's compromise would effectively rearrange the payout to MOHAI and allow the city to hold on to several million dollars of the $47 million for the next two years, releasing it to MOHAI in 2013. The deal would provide "several million dollars" to pay for one-time city expenditures on programs that would otherwise be cut, Licata said this morning---things like library collections, youth employment programs, and food banks.
Licata said MOHAI agreed to his proposal; only McGinn appears to be a holdout. "I have trouble understanding his objections," Licata said. "The clearest is that he wants to hold on to that money forever," whereas Licata's proposal would reimburse MOHAI eventually. Moreover, Licata said, under the mayor's proposal, the city wouldn't get the money until late 2012 or 2013---too late to deal with the current budget crunch.
I have a call in to McGinn's office to get the mayor's take on Licata's MOHAI proposal.
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