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The Board committed to this concept in December 1995, as did Marion County and the City of Salem. There are many practical and political reasons for such a partnership, not the least of which is a substantial cost-savings to both entities and, therefore, the taxpayer. If the District proceeded alone on this site, or any other, 100% of the cost of land acquisition (condemnation), relocation, demolition, abatement, and contamination mitigatinn would have been ours. Our federal grants were justified in large part on the basis of the partnership, thereby increasing our original grants from $2 million to almost $8 million. The adjacency of the County in this project provides us the opportunity of consolidating phone systems, hearings room, meeting rooms, security systems, parking, maintenance, mail rooms and delivery areas, printing facilities, and many other potential future internal services. We consider the District a partner with Marion County in the Courthouse Square project. While we are prepared to move ahead on the Senator block with a transit facility alone if need be, we feel that a joint development is in our and the public's best interest, and fully support a continued effort to resolve the issues that have delayed its progress and clear the path for the completion of the project. If Marion County should for any reason decide not to proceed with its portion of the partnership, should the District proceed to build its facilities on the Courthouse Square site? This is a scenario we have only reluctantly considered; not only for the reasons stated in the previous question, but because we continue to feel strongly that Courthouse Square is the preferred solution to both the District's off-street _,. operational and administrative facility needs, and the County's current and future growth and consolidation needs, as well. Having said that, however, begs the issue. The answers to all the previously posed questions substantiate a positive response. However, another, possibly more compelling reason has come to our attention in the past couple of months - financing. Whereas FTA has financed the acquisition of our 42% undivided interest in the Senator Block and our portion of the demolition, clearing, abatement, and relocation costs for our share of the block, a move from this site will wreak havoc with the District's project budget. If transit's project does not proceed on this site, our portion of all the above costs will no longer be eligible for grant financing. The District would be forced to pay for those costs from its general fund, amounting to an estimated $600,000 of ta3cpayer funds. In addition, the County would be required, by the terms of our acquisition agreement, to reimburse the District for the $2.255 million we paid for our share of the property and the 80°Io federal share would be returned directly to the U.S. Treasury and thereby lost to both FTA and to Salem Transit. The District would