Mayor talks of $400,000 overruns in La Crosse’s $17-million parking ramp

Utility and environmental issues caused price hike

Questions are popping up about Downtown La Crosse’s new parking ramp, including $400,000 in cost overruns.

Surprise utility and environmental issues are being blamed on the price hike getting added to the $17-million cost of the ramp being constructed at the Third and Pine street intersection.

Another question as the city council, this week, decides whether to approve the extra spending, is how much of the ramp will be taxable.

It’s something the council could shoot down, La Crosse Mayor Tim Kabat said.

“It’s going to be up to the council, whether or not they are comfortable paying a bit more,” Kabat said. “Again, having environmental issues and utility issues, that’s not surprising, those things happen.”

Kabat saw this coming.

“I expressed my concerns well over two years ago when I felt like there should be a partnership – public-private, along with La Crosse County – to look at how this ramp was going to be put together,” he said.

That would have avoided some confusion, Kabat believed, and this is, of course, is not how he wanted to be dealing with the new ramp.

“The council decided differently so now it’s my job to try and make this thing work, as the mayor,” he said.

The ramp, being built by Third and Pine LLC, which is managed by Logistics Health Inc., will feature 600 parking spaces.