Capital Cost and Impact Fee Calculator

Thomas J. Hennen Jr. writes
I have recently developed a tool to calculate the potential costs for a new
building or for impact fees.


The tool uses an MS Excel spreadsheet and “slider bars.” I am
“beta-testing” the tool, and would appreciate publibber responses. The tool
is partly an outgrowth of my cover story article in the March 2003 issue of
American Libraries article: “Performing Triage on Library Budgets in the
Red.”

Thomas J. Hennen Jr. writes
I have recently developed a tool to calculate the potential costs for a new
building or for impact fees.


The tool uses an MS Excel spreadsheet and “slider bars.” I am
“beta-testing” the tool, and would appreciate publibber responses. The tool
is partly an outgrowth of my cover story article in the March 2003 issue of
American Libraries article: “Performing Triage on Library Budgets in the
Red.”
For planning purposes, libraries frequently need to calculate the cost of
building a new facility. New audit requirements based on GASB-34 require
municipalities and/or libraries to value their collections and buildings on
the annual audit (or CAFR).

The theory behind impact fees is that NEW residents impose an impact on the
library that should be borne by the new resident rather than current
residents. The cost is usually rolled into the purchase price of the home.

A major “glitch” in the link is that sometimes when you click on the
‘Capital Costs Calculator’ link for the main page you get a 404 not found —
but — if you hit the refresh button on your browser, the spreadsheet will
usually come up. I need to fix this, of course, but I also need to see how
well individuals are able to use the tool based on the instructions I have
supplied. Hence the Beta test.


The text link is at:
http://haplr-index.com/capital_costs_calculator.htm


The Excel spreadsheet with slider bar is at:
http://haplr-index.com/CapitalCostSlider.xls


Thanks for your help.

Thomas J. Hennen Jr.
[email protected]
http://www.haplr-index.com