The question is, is the price worth the benefit? How much is just right and how much would be considered too much, crossing the threshold? In this case, the cost is over $50,000 per year for approx. six weeks of colorful, bright lights. That might be ok if someone else was writing out the check, such as the downtown merchants, but in this case, it's the city.
$50.000 per year for five years = $250,000. What else could those limited funds go for - such as for the police, parks, library, housing, transportation and so on? Doesn't the City Council have to approve expenditures this high?
Perhaps we should take up a collection during the Christmas Tree Lighting event in early December, with each person contributing $1,000 or so. It would be like an admission ticket to a public event.
