As regards downtown Easton, Pennsylvania’s Riverwalk, there are discrepancies in the project’s cost as reported in yesterday’s editions of The Morning Call and The Express-Times.

The Morning Call reports that besides the $700,000 grant from Governor Ed Rendell and the $200,000 grant from State Senator Rob Wonderling, “Other funding sources include $500,000 from the city’s federal Community Development Block Grant allocation, $2 million from the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission and $4.3 million from the Federal Transit Administration through the Lehigh and Northampton Transportation Authority.”

The Morning Call also reports that Easton’s “Parking Authority has borrowed $5.2 million to cover expenses during construction.”

By contrast, The Express-Times reports that Easton’s Parking Authoriity “already has secured $2.7 million from the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission, $4 million in federal funding through LANTA, a $2 million state grant and $116,000 in Community Development Block Grants. The authority also has secured $5.1 million in short- and long-term loans.”

Local elected and appointed officials are imposing huge debt and higher taxes on the taxpayers of the City of Easton and the Easton Area School District for the purpose of leveraging large state and federal grants.

These grants are not free, but also increase taxes since they represent debt that the taxpayers must repay.