It's back. Like a bad penny.

Like 11.4 billion bad pennies, now that you mention it. Which comes to the tidy sum of $114 million.

Of Birmingham taxpayer cash.

Just call it rent money.

Two years after the city of Birmingham was forced to drop the idea like the hot-and -half-baked potato it was, Birmingham Mayor William Bell is again pushing for a divisive deal in which the city would pay about $114 million to rent part of the old Social Security building for 30 years.

That's right, rent. Part of the building. For $3.8 million a year. From a guy who has dumped money into city politics like polluters dumped crud on North Birmingham.

At least there has been some progress.

The old Social Security building (Frank Couch)

The price to rent the building, and convert it into a public safety center that would house the police and fire departments in the building north of the civic center has dropped by $25 million since the city considered leasing it for $139 million in 2014.

But the problems still exist. Building owner Franklin L. Haney of Chattanooga has pushed the city to buy or lease his building for years, and former mayor Richard Arrington has been his advocate. Haney, as I have pointed out, contributed $130,000 to the campaigns of current council members, which he wrote off two years ago by saying "It's not a lot of money to me."

Haney gave $100,000 in previous campaigns, and gave money to PACS that turned around and gave tens of thousands for the past two governors. What has been most remarkable is that, in the face of all that cash, it didn't work.

Yet.

Last year the city sent out requests for proposals on the public safety project, and the city settled on two plans they found workable. One was the Haney plan, and the other a proposal by the Birmingham group BLOC Globalto build a new building on a Norwood site. That proposal, at 27th Street and 11th Avenue, would cost about $190 million over 30 years.

The city's assessment of the two plans lists a number of pros and cons for each, and the Haney building had more cons and fewer pros.

Still, Bell told council members in a Committee of the Whole this week that he would back the Haney plan - although he left the final decision up to them.

And we shall see how the politics plays. Remembering, of course, that six of the nine council members took money in 2013 that Haney passed through PACs.

So far, council members seem to want to steer clear of the building - either because it is a lightning rod or because most find themselves at odds with the mayor about most everything these days. Several bristle at the notion of investing in any new building right now.

Those say they see the need for a new police and fire building, but want to see the city take care of the buildings it has before taking on another big old pile of money.

Several libraries have fallen into disrepair, and the jail needs work. The Southside library leaks every time it rains, Councilwoman Valerie Abbott said.

"I'm of the opinion you take care of what you've got before you get something else," Councilman Steven Hoyt said.

Council members have asked the mayor for a report on the maintenance of existing buildings, and intend to examine that before making a decision. They complain that requests for the report have been ignored.

In the meantime, nothing gets done.

And that might just be the best thing for Birmingham right now.