As the News Tribune prepares to write about some of our charges that JCI has not been the best partner in the planning for the new school facilities one thing keeps coming back to me from my lunch with Sarah Horner.
We’ve maintained for months that JCI has much more to gain from the building of the Red Plan than 2% because the Contract with the district lists many higher percentages which will be added to that. In fact, we’ve said they could make as much as $92 million rather than the $6 million that District officials maintain.
Sarah did agree that the contract specifies many additional percentages over the 2% but says District officials keep telling her that while JCI is entitled to this it won’t collect it. Gosh! To think that they are entitled to something in the contract but won’t take it would require considerable trust. The kind of trust, for instance, that leads a school board chair to say that there will be no new or additional Red Plan taxes even though another $90 million of borrowing will be necessary in 2011.
