Award winning? (March 22, 2017)
The Town’s “award-winning” financial guru (a non-resident/ratepayer here), says the town can afford $150 million in revenue bonds at 12% interest for 30 years. Voters need to do the math and consider the following:
- Those figures will have an actual cost in the end of $555.5 million (that is half a billion). If you are a short term senior, interested only in your wallet now, are you willing to leave this legacy for your children and grandchildren? If you are currently raising a family, is this the debt you want to incur for a currently well run company, providing quality water? At this price, is it worth risking ending up like LA DWP or Flint, Michigan?
- Are there more important uses for HALF A BILLION DOLLARS; like roads, law enforcement, non-expiring increased fire taxes, and ever increasing “unfunded pension liabilities” for the fire district and town personnel?
- Measure F is a blank check, even if the cost for the water company is less, the Town, by their own adopted Resolution, will recover in the bonds all their costs, i.e. legal fees, consultants fees, advertising, ballot measures, etc., so it is not likely to be less.
- Revenue bonds are supposed to be paid only from bonding purpose revenue. The Town in 2007 used revenue bonds for Town Hall Annex, to be paid from the use revenues. The revenues are less than $50,000 a year, but the bond payments are $2.5 million a year. Seems the taxpayers and bond holders were duped once, so the Town will try it again.
Will you let the Town again FOOL you on Measure F?
Leane Lee, Apple Valley