If World Trade Center planners needed yet another reason to reconsider plans for a copious September 11, 2001, memorial, perhaps they should listen to New Yorkers who are speaking with their wallets. Or, more precisely, their tax returns.

This was the first year New Yorkers could donate to the memorial on their state tax returns. The process couldn’t be easier: Just check a box and write in the amount of money. Yet of the 7.6 million tax returns filed last month, only 14,707 included World Trade Center donations. The grand total of $150,085 isn’t even enough to pay the salary of the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation’s executive director.

Of the seven charitable options on New York tax returns, only the Lake Placid Olympic Training Center took in less than the memorial. Taxpayers preferred contributing to medical research and exploited children, as the chart nearby shows.

If New Yorkers don’t want to give their money to the memorial, that’s their business. The memorial foundation’s job, however, was to make sure people actually know about the checkoff, and other than a barely noticed announcement on February 3, the foundation was silent. So were Mayor Bloomberg and Governor Pataki. They aggressively promote issues they care about and easily could have talked up the check-off. Mr. Bloomberg’s absence on this issue is understandable considering that he’s philosophically against breaking the bank for a memorial. But Mr. Pataki has made the memorial a cornerstone of his legacy.

The lack of public interest in funding the memorial represents the latest in an alarmingly consistent series of management and planning failures involving the World Trade Center site. Nearly every plan has wound up back on the drawing board. The initial master plan options were hideous, the first Freedom Tower design was deemed unsafe, the cultural center’s museums were scrapped, and last week the memorial was put into turnaround after the cost-estimate doubled to $1 billion.

The memorial foundation has been off kilter from the get-go. Prominent civic leaders like real estate magnate Jerry Speyer and Time Warner executive Dick Parsons refused to run the fundraising effort. Last week we found out their reluctance was warranted. Government officials ordered the memorial’s cost cut back to the original estimate of $500 million. The foundation then suspended fundraising efforts pending the re-design.

The September 11 attacks represent the worst day in American history, and the nation has an obligation to remember those who died with an appropriate and dignified memorial. At some point in the planning process, though, “expensive” became a synonym for “appropriate” and dignity disappeared from the discussion.

When the world’s attention returns to Lower Manhattan in just a few months to mark the five-year point since September 11, New York should have more to show than a series scaled-back plans and a memorial that puts size over substance. In contrast to the high-priced plans for the World Trade Center site, the recent World War II Memorial cost $182 million, the Oklahoma City National Memorial cost $29 million and Vietnam Veterans Memorial cost $7 million.

Mayor Giuliani had the right idea when, while he was still mayor, he suggested turning much of the World Trade Center site into a park. He understood that only a simple concept could withstand the test of time and the political mood swings capable of creating delays and endless debate.

The democratic process will play a big role in what happens now. Mr. Pataki is eager to make permanent progress before another governor takes charge next year and starts tinkering with rebuilding plans. Over the next seven months, Mr. Pataki’s Lower Manhattan Development Corporation will spend $140 million in remaining federal funds allocated for downtown, out of the total $2.7 billion the corporation was initially given.

The LMDC board hasn’t exactly spent that cash in the most desirable ways. At least $20 million has funded board members’ pet projects, including the Tribeca Film Festival and landscaping outside the New York Stock Exchange. Mr. Pataki must make sure the remaining money isn’t used as a slush fund for political patronage. The governor should shut down the LMDC now, and give the leftover cash to an endowment for supporting the memorial. Mr. Pataki should also close the memorial foundation immediately and ask President Bush to have the National Park Service take over the task of building and maintaining a scaled-down memorial.

The memorial foundation simply can’t be trusted to run the memorial and its accompanying museum competently. Beyond $300 million from the federal government and $100 million from the Port Authority, the foundation has raised only $130 million over the last few years – including the unremarkable $150,085 from this year’s tax check-offs. The design for the World Trade Center Memorial is known as “Reflecting Absence,” signifying the two symbolic reflecting pools that represent where the Twins Towers stood. Unfortunately, “Reflecting Absence” also signifies the absence of competence downtown.

Mr. Goldin’s column appears regularly.