The wait to get state funding for the proposed addition to the Commerce Public Library is expected to inflate its cost by anywhere from 30 to 38 percent.
That means local fund-raising efforts to secure the match for the state grant, rather than lacking just $80,000, are $256,000 to $306,000 short of the goal.
Alan Harkness, director of the Piedmont Regional Library, delivered the bad news at Monday night’s Commerce Library Board meeting.
Harkness’ presented estimates by state officials based on a $225-$250 per square foot cost for constructing the addition and a cost of $100 per square foot for renovating existing parts of the structure. That puts the total estimated tab for the project at from $2.73 million to $2.91 million.
The costs upon which all previous calculations were done were $160 per square foot for the 5,000-square-foot addition and $85/square foot for renovating 9,000 square feet of the existing facility. The original project estimate was $2.1 million.
“Please don’t shoot the messenger,” Harkness told the board, adding, “These figures make me nauseous.”
Commerce was 13th in line to get state funding in the upcoming state fiscal year. Gov. Sonny Perdue’s budget calls for the funding of 11 library projects during the upcoming state fiscal year, which would move Commerce to the number two ranking for the next fiscal year — assuming the General Assembly agrees to Perdue’s request. Even with a budget shortfall, that is considered a strong possibility because library funds come from bond sales.
Moving up in the ranking is good. Having to raise at least another quarter million dollars in about 13 months is another matter.
“These numbers could be high,” Harkness conceded. “There are projects that are bidding low.”
“The good thing is we raised as much money as we did before the recession,” commented Library Director Susan Harper. “The bad thing is this doesn’t seem like a good time to raise (more) money.”
While the dollar figures have changed, the state’s commitment has not. It is committed to fund 72.3 percent of the cost. Its portion, originally at $1.5 million, would climb to $1.95 million-$2.1 million under the new cost estimates.
