07-31-2014, 06:27 PM
When I hit "Submit Reply" on my last post, I immediately realised I missed something out. I could have edited the post but thought I'd wait for someone to reply, and Paul, you did it in a great way because it introduces another point very nicely.
Although the observatories do pay rent it's not traditional rent, as in handing over money to some landlord. I hope that was clear in my post. That amount of rent is typically 15% of the operational costs of an observatory. The rest of those operational costs, nearly all of them, go into the local economy. The most significant part of the JAC's budget goes into staff costs. That's wages and all the other costs associated with employing someone (benefits, 401Ks etc). That money goes directly into the local economy via the people employed by the JAC. Their wages go into paying for housing, taxes (including local ones), utilities, food and local businesses. The rest goes into all the other costs an observatory has. Utilities, gas and cryogenic supplies, water delivery and so on. Guess what, those are local businesses that supply those services. The JAC is one of of several observatories on the island and all operate with a similar model. The observatories also pay to maintain the road to the summit. There are several local tour companies that benefit from that, those companies wouldn't exist without the observatories. Visiting astronomers stay in hotels and eat in local restaurants (as do local staff of course!). Despite that, observatory staff give up their free time and expenses to visit schools and set up local outreach events to encourage both adults and children to appreciate what science can do for them.
Nearly all those several tens of millions of dollars coming from outside the state every year go into the local economy, yet we still have a few people who hold out their hand and say "give me more money".
Although the observatories do pay rent it's not traditional rent, as in handing over money to some landlord. I hope that was clear in my post. That amount of rent is typically 15% of the operational costs of an observatory. The rest of those operational costs, nearly all of them, go into the local economy. The most significant part of the JAC's budget goes into staff costs. That's wages and all the other costs associated with employing someone (benefits, 401Ks etc). That money goes directly into the local economy via the people employed by the JAC. Their wages go into paying for housing, taxes (including local ones), utilities, food and local businesses. The rest goes into all the other costs an observatory has. Utilities, gas and cryogenic supplies, water delivery and so on. Guess what, those are local businesses that supply those services. The JAC is one of of several observatories on the island and all operate with a similar model. The observatories also pay to maintain the road to the summit. There are several local tour companies that benefit from that, those companies wouldn't exist without the observatories. Visiting astronomers stay in hotels and eat in local restaurants (as do local staff of course!). Despite that, observatory staff give up their free time and expenses to visit schools and set up local outreach events to encourage both adults and children to appreciate what science can do for them.
Nearly all those several tens of millions of dollars coming from outside the state every year go into the local economy, yet we still have a few people who hold out their hand and say "give me more money".