Berks County’s decision to pour $12 million more into the Colebrookdale Railroad is difficult to justify (“$12 million headed to Colebrookdale Railroad,” Reading Eagle, May 2). After 25 years it’s clear that the railroad is not viable without continual, and sizable, taxpayer funds to keep it afloat. To put that number in perspective: $12 million is equivalent to the annual budget of the sheriff’s department. That is not a rounding error. It is a major allocation of taxpayer resources.
The railroad has already consumed tens of millions in public grants and loans over the years, including a $40 million federal loan to rebuild the line. Yet the return to taxpayers remains unclear, and the promised economic transformation has not materialized at scale.
At some point, continued spending stops being an investment and starts looking like throwing good money after bad. Government should not be in the business of gambling on speculative economic development projects, especially when core public services compete for the same dollars.
If the county commissioners have an affinity for choo-choo trains, they are free to indulge that interest on their own time and with their own money. Taxpayers should not be asked to bankroll what increasingly looks like a high-risk, negative-return venture.
Berks deserves better financial stewardship.
Andrew Price
Lower Heidelberg Township