Town’s furniture costs can be brought down

Town of Berlin officials, employees and some residents must not have bought furniture recently, judging from their  reaction this week to the cost of the proposed re-furnishing of the renovated Town Hall.

The responses to the suggested price tag of roughly a quarter-million dollars for good quality desks, chairs, tables and shelves ranged from shock to a yearning to get it all.

None of that, of course, is realistic. Some employees, for instance, have suggested that the kind of furniture the town buys is a manifestation of the council’s opinion of them and the work they do.

On the other hand, some residents believe that this quarter-million-dollar price tag is excessive and that mixing and matching old and new furniture would be acceptable — even though it would be like wearing broken-down shoes with a new suit.

The one thing everyone should accept, however, is that furniture is more expensive than ever. The cost of materials and labor in furniture manufacturing has increased dramatically in the last five years.

Secondly, this furniture proposal was produced by a design team charged with creating a cohesive professional office theme, not a do-the-best-you-can interior.

Design services, such as PMC Commercial Interiors in Raleigh, North Carolina, say the average square foot cost of outfitting an office is now $34, with a low end of about $26. Town Hall is 11,200 square feet, so even at the low end the cost of furnishing it would be closer to $300,000.

As the critics of this endeavor point out, the taxpayers, not the town, are paying for this. Consequently, the council’s appreciation of its employees has nothing to do with it. But neither should anyone want the town offices to look unprofessional.

Costs can be brought down. Not every desk needs the adjustable height feature and the art might be a do-it-yourself project. Further, the initial price is just a starting point, even if it is hardly surprising given the cost of things these days.