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.
3 comments:
I just dont understand the obsession with a baseball park. We have one and it is empty most of the time, let them play there. We have another at EPCC. We have another park next to GECU and another one on Zaragosa. Gee, sounds great xcept that our children cant read or write and do basic math. Our schools are now under the watchful eye of the state, your diploma from Austin or Bowie, or Socorro is null and void.
You would think parents would be up in arms, and what about those elected officials, they give a wet dream a bad name.
Screw baseball, and your baseball team, and screw those students who cant read or write. Each time you raise the property taxes people become homeless, they have to go on a dogfood diet.
El Pasoans do not deserve any sports or recreation, they havent earned it. We dont need to beautify the downtown area .... we dont need to increase the property values for Hunt and company. These sobees have hijacked our city. Open government has gone out the window!
El Paso has never been more than a "paradera", they only stopped here for water, and we dont have any more of that.
It cant compete with the cities in East Texas because they have a Gulf, rain, trees, they have hospitals that have not been ranked at the bottom of the heap.
There is only one hope and that is that our city leaders all get the west nile and die. There is only one hope that all those stupid baseball people who cant read and write get the west nile virus and die. The rest of you well there is always plenty of Whooping Cough to go around.
I absolutely loved this town when it ended at Basset Center, but all the foreigners and illegals and the Three Legged Monkey have turned the place to shit.
For one answer, I understand the city debt right now stands at 1.2 billion in CoO and bonds. That's just the city and doesn't include county, school districts, and other taxing entities. This means the new debt they're trying to saddle us with just in the city, will be 2 billion dollars. And I detest when someone says, "It's only $5 a year increase on your taxes". That figure is for one entity, what about the others that are raising taxes or fees?
Thank you for crunching the numbers. If I had good credit like our city does I would not want to take a risk on anything righ now. As Dave Ramsey says, "Cash is King".
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