Russ Steele
I have written many times that green jobs depending on government subsides are not sustainable. There always comes a time when the government gets tired of sending money into a rat hole, or in this case the Federal money bucket is empty, and the tax payers are not willing to refill it.
As a result, government subsidized entities like the APPLE Center for Sustainable Living are about to go out of business since they lost their Federal Private Industry Council subsidies. The PIC finally ran out of other peoples money and stopped funding the APPLE Center.
Now the APPLE Center wants the community to cough up $110.00 a day to keep the Center for Sustainable Living doors open. Details here.
Starting March 1st, APPLE has been seeking sponsors to keep it going for $110 a day
Let’s see, at $110 a day for 30 days that is $3,300 a month, or $39,600 a year. I find that to be an interesting number, as it matches some other numbers associated with the APPLE Center. The 2010-2011 overhead for the Center was computed at $20,000 a year (Utilities $3,600, Insurance $6,000, Office Supplies $3,600, Workers Comp $2,400, $3,000 Bookkeeping, $3,000, Office Equipment $1,400) according to the APPLE Center Business Plan. The PIC was also paying APPLE's building rent to Nevada City at $800 per month ($800 x 12 = $19,600). Now if we add $20,000 to $19,600 we get $39,600. I find that interesting.
What will we be getting for our $110 a day investment? We get environmental exhibits and a library on sustainability, plus workshops on gardening and an e-waste drop off center. We already have a County Library that can get patrons any book they want, we have a County e-waste drop off facility, and several local garden clubs who hold workshops, plus a County Ag Office that will help anyone with agriculture questions.
Exit Question: Why do we need an APPLE Center for Sustainable Living at $110 a day?
