Estimated Taxpayer Subsidy for One Beach Tenant with 2,500 square feet over 35 years:

This is part of an e-mail message I put together after the 11/10 City Commission meeting:

Last night as I was leaving after the casino building discussion, Suzanne Mulvehill grabbed me and introduced me to Wendy Yarborough - an owner of John Gs. Suzanne asked excitedly, "So what do you think about this?" (meaning the Commission allowing "Straticon" to go forward, explore the building's structure and come up with a price for "free") - I told her that it wasn't going to be an objective evaluation on whether the building could be saved or not because this company wants the business. I also told them that no one is asking if the building we would end up with would actually meet our needs and who is going to pay for it.

Then asked Wendy if she knew what retail/restaurant oceanfront space was going for. She said she did. (I am guessing at least $50 a square foot at a minimum) I told her the difference between that and what they have been paying (lets say $18?) amounts to a subsidy from the citizen's of Lake Worth. Suzanne then said that made it sound like the tenant's fault. I said that ultimately it is the city's fault but that over the years John Gs has influenced the political process around here to make sure that situation stayed the same - so one hand washes the other. Then I looked at Suzanne and said this is your special interest you're representing. She then said that at least they have good french toast.

So I did a quick and dirty analysis. Assuming that the annual lease rate for the casino building space is $18 per square foot and that the "market" rate is $50 per square foot for oceanfront retail/restaurant space, what does that subsidy amount to over a span of 35 years? That is the length of time that John Gs has been a tenant there. See below:

Without figuring in inflation but reducing the cumulative subsidy by 70% to compensate for that results in an approximate subsidy by the tax paying residents of the City of Lake Worth of around $2,000,000. This represents just one tenant that has 2,500 square feet of space. What if that money had been available to maintain the building the way it should be maintained?

That's pretty expensive french toast Suzanne, regardless of how you slice it.