Friday, December 22, 2017

The $11,508 Foxconn question of the day

So Foxconn finally made a promised, good-faith $60 million deposit - - a week late.
Foxconn chairman Terry Gou and Governor Scott Walker signing a memorandum of understanding. Photo from the State of Wisconsin.
Contracts...deadlines...you know, details...

I'm remembering spotting former Wisconsin State Treasurer Charlie Smith literally running across the Capitol Square years ago, and I said, "Hey, where are you headed?"

He said, "I've got a big check to deposit and a day's nterest is important "

I have no idea if the money is in a checking account, a savings account, a money market account or some super-special instrument, nor do I know if interest is credited either forward or going back.

There are checking accounts in Wisconsin paying right now as much as 3%, and others less.

So, conservatively, as I figure it, if the $60 million deposit was made into a checking account paying one percent interest per year, a seven-day delay cost local taxpayers for whom the $60 million is ticketed $11,508:

$60 million times one percent = $600,000, divided by 365 (days) =$1,644, times seven (days) = $11,508.

I'll bet a municipality could fill a bunch of potholes or run a fleet of emergency vehicles for some time with a found $11,508.

If I screwed up the math, let me know.

But with Wisconsin and other taxpayers (local, perhaps federal through highway funding) on the hook to Foxconn for more than $4 billion, does anyone give a fig for $11,508?

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