It’s not their money
To close the loop on our stories on the planned move of the west side offramp from the Hawthorne Bridge, we hear from the folks at Multnomah County that the $8.9 million that the county received from the City of Portland for that move is safely invested, and will remain so until the county spends the funds, one of these days. The money is earning around 3.1 percent as part of the county’s investment portfolio.
The problem for the taxpayers, of course, is that the city’s paying around 6.03 percent interest on those funds — they’re all borrowed as part of the “urban renewal” red ink fest and have been incurring interest at that rate since April — while the county’s earning only 3.1 percent.
Go to BoJack’s place to see all the numbers.
Math-geek bloggers: Doing the work that is too tough for journalism majors.