The numbers on our hotel occupancy tax (HOT) for the third quarter of 2013 are out.
Remember that the interest on our new ball park (serious principal payments are not scheduled until 2024) is being partially paid for by the HOT. The city has projected a 3 percent increase.
The new numbers show that for the first three quarters of the year we are down 1 percent when compared to 2012. That means that our HOT numbers projected by our city staff are wrong to the tune of 4 percent.
Property taxes cannot be used to pay for the stadium so other revenues like sales tax will have to be used. The city budgeted a 4.3 percent increase in sales tax revenue for this year. So far the numbers are coming in at 2 percent.
At what point do we hold these people accountable?
We deserve better
Brutus
elpasospeak 
ive seen car leases that were better deals than this financing method Wilson is gonna leave us with. hell, this is worse than Fanny Mae. doesnt surprise me a Harvard grad would leave us with a loan financed worse than any of the derivatives sold by Goldman Sachs during the Wall Street debacle. the quicker that [edited out] is gone the better.
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City staff and, especially, the CFO are paid to vet the numbers, not drink the MS kool-aid and pass it off to us as if it were champagne, which is what they did to us. There aren’t enough votes yet on CC for a mass firing in city hall of those staffers who rolled over and lied to us to rather than critically evaluate the Mountain Star BS that Wilson was downloading to them. Maybe in 2015?
We will need to look at the feasibility of a partial default on the bonds as the HOT is pledged to service the debt. We’ll also need to put the fear of recall or defeat into the CC to do this. Otherwise, they will be pulling books off the selves of libraries and reducing park hours and police patrols to pay for Woody World.
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Although most people knew from the beginning who got the “sweet” out of this deal, I think a lot of people were hoping, praying, and listening to the propoganda that this would be good for our city, but it’s is becoming more and more apparent that those so called philanthropists will be the only ones making the profits.
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I recall that the sports group promised to donate their profits to local charities. Then the city got involved and created a financial mess. The net result of this part of the deal is that local charities will receive less and the taxpayers will pay a larger bill.
Brutus
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Donating “profits” sounded good when trying to sell the deal and calm the public right before the council vote. Mountainstar’s owners will probably load up the P&L with all kinds of management fees (paid to themselves and their other entities) to show a loss, which will then make the public think they did all of this out of the goodness of their hearts.
As I recall, Woody said at a city council meeting that they will not show their books to anyone, that we would just have to trust them. They think everyone is naive.
They will supposedly donate the profits from the baseball club. They said nothing about donating profits from concerts and non-baseball events, which will probably be run through separate entities. They said nothing about donating profits from their downtown real estate ventures, which are where they expect to make their real money.
The ballpark is the loss leader, and the taxpayers are the ones who will ultimately take the losses. We’re doing that for our self-righteous leaders.
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I’m shocked, I tell you. Shocked! This is appalling! Ms. Wilson…Mr. Shubert, how could you let this happen. I never saw this coming. Heads need to roll. We the council are not going to stand for this. Bring me heads. Now!
I plan to hang someone in San Jacinto Plaza before my re-election campaign. I’m going to feed someone to those alligators…right after opening day when I get float like a butterfly between the owners skybox and the city management skybox at the new ballpark I helped to build for the people who gave big to my first election campaign.
Opening day will be great. I will be able to look out over my minions who will be enjoying peanuts, hot dogs and beer, while I sip champagne and eat steak catered by Paul’s nearby restaurant.
Life is grand. Now, let’s get those hotel people off their butts. They need to sell more rooms. How dare them let us down like this. We have bills to pay.
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While, yes, I do see your point- there are several events that are contracted to come to El Paso within the next few years that will help the hotel occupancy numbers. USBC will be returning, along with the Conference USA tournament. I am confident that the hotel occupancy will be above average in 2014/2015 with both of those events, along with the other conventions etc. that come to town.
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