Take Me Out to the Taxes

It looks like government will do what government will do, regardless of the will of the people; after all, we trust government to act on our behalf because we can’t do a better job of governing our own lives than the government.  What the hell am I talking about?

At the moment I am compelled to write this piece because my local government is on the cusp of spending a boat load of money, and they want the local voter to approve a second boat load of money for a better “quality of life.”  Quality of life projects are code speak for big ticket “improvements” for the benefit of the citizenry.  Well, let's face it, big ticket items have to be bought and somebody has to pay for them.

By my count, El Paso County will issue $110,000,000 in certificates of obligation for capital improvements throughout the county.  The City of El Paso will issue $218,000,000 for capital improvements throughout the city.  Both entities have “worthy lists” of projects to be funded with this money.  One can say, and should say, that these things need to be done, not unlike a home improvement project in our homes that needs doing and requires us to take out a home improvement loan.  Fair enough, I can accept these expenses, and the corresponding increase in my home mortgage payment, if and only if these capital expenses are required and are done so separately, not in the same tax year.  I can overlook that some expenses are the result of deferred maintenance, sins of previous administrations that did not fill in pot holes or fix faulty roofs.  I cannot overlook that city and county is intent on taking on this new debt and old debt has not been paid off.

I feel certain, because government is inherently inefficient, that these two bodies did not discuss their capital improvement projects, nor the issuance of these certificates of obligation, with each other, and the combined impact they will have on the average home owner.  I suppose that the city and the county could have coordinated their capital improvements so that they did not coincide in the same budget year and create a spike in home mortgage payments.  However, that is expecting way too much from our elected leaders, isn’t it?

It gets a little more convoluted.  At this time in history, El Paso has a chance to “buy” a professional sports team, under certain conditions.  The first condition we must accept is that the opportunity to buy a professional sports team will NEVER again materialize.  This reminds me of my approach to car buying.  I do research on line to find an automobile suitable for me, the make and model that I want with the performance that meets my approval.  I walk into show rooms with the idea that I am ready to walk out – without a deal.  There is always another deal around the corner.  Low and behold, I make my purchase knowing that I got a good deal and the next day I see an advertisement for a better deal.  But such is not the case with the pending purchase of the ball club, it’s a once in a lifetime deal.  It’s now or never!

But, it’s more than just a good deal at the right time.  It’s part of a larger community effort to improve our city, to make it a better place.  It’s part of broader strategy that includes revitalizing downtown El Paso.  Downtown revitalization is critical to overall economic development.  The city’s future depends on a vibrant downtown to regain economic footing for decades to come.  We must become, once again, the jewel of the southwest, better than Tuscon and Albuquerque.  We must become a destination city.  Everything is riding on this sports team, how can we say no?

The second condition is that the sports league will only sell to buyers who will give them a new ball park downtown.  Imagine a car dealer discriminating against customers who do not have a garage for the new automobile, no car for you unless you have an empty garage in which to park this fine machine.  Another condition is that the deal must be consummated NOW so that the ball club does not miss a season of play.  In summary, he deal is this: build a new ball park downtown to be ready for the 2014 season and you MAY  buy the team now, OR NOT! 

Well, ok, it’s a business decision of the buyers.  Americans would never accept that kind of business deal from Wal Mart, but with professional sports its different.  Team owners/buyers don’t have to build their own stores (stadiums) because American home owners are willing to pay for these monuments to decadence.  It gets better.  There is ONLY ONE location downtown suitable for a ball park, the land on which sits the 10 city hall building that is fully occupied and functional. 

Of course, not to be obstructionists, city council said “you bet, we’ll move out, give you the property for a modest lease payment and we’ll raise taxes to pay for your stadium.”  Being ever mindful of the voter and taxpayer, they added a caveat.  “Let’s pay for it with the hotel tax because that is paid by visitors, not local residents, if the voters approve.”  What if the voters don’t approve?  Well, we’ll issue certificates of obligation without voter approval and we’ll build it anyway, because, after all, government knows best.  I recently went stayed in another city, found a great deal on the Internet for $99, the final bill came out to $121, the other $22 were that city’s HOT tax, so I paid for someone else’s ball park, just not my own.

This deal seems to be done,  I’m sticking a fork in it.  Wait, there’s yet more to the story.  So the city decides to move out and find a way to build the new stadium, but where will “the city” go?  In the meantime they will lease space hither and yon and they will buy a building or two.  One building on the auction block belongs to our only daily newspaper.  The media purports to be the watchdog.  Our constitution guaranteed freedom of the press as a way to keep government in check and to inform the citizenry.  Now the press is in business with the government, can we get an honest sales price on the ocean front property?  There is a plan, however well thought out it is or isn’t, there is a SHORT TERM plan.  But at some point in the not too distant future a new city hall must be constructed.

Back to the money, the new stadium is projected to cost $50,000,000 and the new city hall is estimated to cost $35,000,000.  From my vantage point, the professional sports team will cost $85,000,000 in public financing.  Because city council has already pledged to give up its house, assuming the sports league approved the sale of the franchise to El Paso and the El Paso buyers sign the deal, then city hall will un-ass the premises faster than a congregation at the end of the sermon, and in doing so will assume an $85M expense, regardless of the election results on the HOT issue in November.  Add it all up and we now have $413,000,000 in non-voter approved capital expenditures in rapid succession.  By the way, no one has mentioned how much outstanding debt we have from past bond obligations.

Wait, yes, there is more.  The city wants to buy a new soccer stadium and a new downtown arena along with a whole host of other very-much-needed things like parks and expansion to the zoo, the museums and the library.  How can anyone oppose all of these other monuments and improvements?  These capital improvements will go up for voter approval in a $468,000,000 Quality of Life bond issue in November.  Yes, that’s all of it.  Property owners are facing $881,000,000 in new debt.

In recent years we reveled at the fact that we launched the newest medical school in the country and won a double-down pot when a new nursing school was launched alongside the medical school.  We looked in amazement as the Army began building the fastest growing military installation in the country.  We applauded the opening of the newest children’s hospital in the country.  We delight at the stunning break-neck rate of growth of our beloved UTEP. 

All of that will be for naught without a new ball park.  It’s a once in a lifetime chance, we must reach for the brass ring.  Ok, let’s accept that idea, like it or not, the team is up for sale today, not yesterday and not tomorrow, it’s up for sale today.  Taking that bait will cost $85M regardless of how it’s financed because the new stadium will have to built in very short order, and a new city hall will have to built within the next few years.  Must we accept that the projects being proposed for completion with city and county certificates of obligation need to be done in an equally time-urgent manner?  Can the city issue it’s COs the year after we build he ball park and the county issue it’s COs the following year?  Can we ask voters to approve the QoL bond in the fourth year?  Why do we HAVE to accept that we MUST have $881M in new debt RIGHT NOW?

Well, I don’t accept that it must all be done today.  Much like my own purchases, I buy the fridge this pay check, the range the next pay check and the car next year.  I space out my purchases.  In the meantime, I continue to make repairs on the old stuff.  If the ball park is the urgent item, let’s do that first and let’s finish this project complete with the new city hall and the stadium.  Personally, I would add the paltry $10M that is being proposed for the libraries because our youth need all the education they can get NOW.  The County is next, they should take turns, and the port of entry is very important to the free flow of trade.  Back to city and all those projects in the proposed COs wish list, parks and roads and stuff.  By the time we finish with those projects will be reaping the hefty rewards of a new ball club and increased trade and we will be in a much better financial position to afford all the luxury items in the bond election.  In five years El Paso will be rolling in the dough, we will be a destination city and retirement community with an educated population and we will no longer have the lowest per capita income zip code in the country.

My friends, I am inclined to vote AGAINST everything on the November ballot.  I am certain the ball park will be approved because we must save face with the sports league and the team investors.  I am certain that the COs will be done by both the city and county.  The leaves out those items that actually require voter approval.  Assuming my gut is correct, we will take all the new debt that we should take on after the November election.

And please, will someone tell me how much old debt we currently have, when the old debt will be retired, and when my mortgage payment will go down?  Please?

Kindest regards,

Jaime for President

Syrian Rebellion

I try to avoid reading about turmoil in the middle east, but it’s a difficult news story to avoid.  Regimes have fallen in Iraq, Egypt, Libya, and Tunisia, and the regime of Syrian leader Bashar al Assad will likely be the next one to fall.  I get uneasy when I read about American support for Syrian rebels almost as if American leaders, in particular Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, are calling for American participation in the demise of that regime.

Historically, since the beginning of time, the region has not been stable.  Biblical accounts and historians accounts of the region tell of violence and turmoil.  Religious and cultural differences are ingrained in the regional psyche to the point that reason and logic fail to bring about clarity.  American involvement has been equally unreasonable. 

In the past, American foreign policy has supported the Shah of Iran, the House of Saud, Saddam Hussein, Osama bin Laden, Yassar Arafat, Hosne Mubarak and his predecessor Anwar Sadat, and others.  At the top of that list is every Israeli leader since 1948.  Because the deep divisions among the peoples of the region are rooted in intolerance, any regional leader that Americans support, causes ill will for that persons opponents. 

My personal observations cover only a short time span in the history of the region.  These observations lead me to conclude that we should not get involved in any fashion with the turmoil in Syria, or in any subsequent turmoil in any other country in that region.  Over the weekend, tired and bored, I was channel surfing and stopped for a short time to watch Black Hawk Down.  While it is not entirely historically accurate, it is based on an actual diplomatic and military fiasco that cost several American lives, and we gained absolutely nothing in exchange for those lives. 

I am a military retiree, I took an oath to defend my constitution and to follow the orders of my President.  I trained for 31 years to do that and never had the privilege, or misfortune, to be called into combat.  Make no mistake; I was ready to do my duty regardless of my personal or political beliefs.  When I say that those lives were lost and we gained nothing in exchange for those lives, I say so with anger and with trepidation.

Every American President during my adult life has made the middle east a central focus of their campaigns and their foreign policy.  Clearly, they have all failed to make any significant gains, as we can see from the unrest during the Arab Spring that has evolved into an Arab two years.  It is my sincere hope that Clinton does not stir the pot, as she is proned to do, and advocate for American action in Syria.  Please, let us not send aid to the rebels like we sent to bin Laden and Hussein.  Let us not send troops either.  The prayers we send will be just as effective and they cost so much less.