News-Record.com

A: You are.

If you'll remember back in July, the Greensboro City Council expressed concerns about taxpayers paying for the maintenance of the planned water feature in Action Greensboro's Center City Park. The council knows from other cities that fountains tend to break, get expensive to run and have to get shut down when there's a drought. The mayor went so far as to say that city funding for fountain maintenance should be taken "off the table."

On Tuesday, the council assented to a maintenance agreement with Action Greensboro (and their park conservancy subsidiary) and Downtown Greensboro Inc. It splits up the maintenance and operating costs - projected at about $400,000 a year - and says what everyone's money is going to be used for.

Half the cost, about $200,000, will be paid from the city's General Fund. That's the big pot of money generated from property and sales taxes from all around the city. None of that money will be used to run or fix the fountain. Based on that item, Sandy Carmany writes on her blog (her caps) "THE CITY WILL HAVE ABSOLUTLEY NO REPSONSIBILITY FOR THE FOUNTAIN OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE..."

So who is paying for the fountain? According to the agreement, that will be paid for partially by the city's Business Improvement District, a private group that is tasked by the city with spending the proceeds of a special tax on downtown property owners. In the case of the park, the BID will use local-option sales tax revenue to pay for their share of the park maintenance.

So while only $200,000 is coming from the city's General Fund, $340,000 of the $400,000 annual operating cost is being covered by taxpayers, including the fountain maintenance.

(Full disclosure: This reporter rents an apartment downtown and pays the BID tax on his car.)