Hennepin County commissioner Jeff Johnson did the math on the solar panels recently installed on the county’s Public Works building in Medina. He heard that the panels were a terrific cost savings measure for the county taxpayers because they would save $15,000 per year in energy costs.
And then he asked how much it cost the county to install the solar panels.
They cost $900,000.
Doing the math, Johnson concluded:
Yes, these solar panels will begin to save the taxpayers of Hennepin County $15,000 per year in 2070. My 5th grade son, Thor, will be 71. I will be dead. And I’m willing to wager that the Hennepin County Public Works building in Medina will be long gone.
Why can't public officials do the math before these projects are implemented?
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