As part of the requirements the city must meet before city council can approve the $100 million of certificates of obligation the city must notify us of what their current debt situation is.
From their notice:
the current combined principal and interest required to pay all of the City’s outstanding public securities secured by and payable from ad valorem raxes on time and in full is $1,818,279,445.84 (iii) the estimated combined principal and interest required to pay the certificates of obligation to be authorized on time and in full is $173,780,312.50;
The $100 million will turn out to be $173 million by the time interest is paid.
Before issuing the new certificates of obligation, and before issuing the $413 million that the recent election gave them, and before issuing the $180 million for the multipurpose performing arts and entertainment facility they will have to pay out $1.818 billion dollars.
That does not include the approximately $400 million that the police and firefighter pension plans are underfunded by.
Let’s add this up:
Existing debt 1,818,000,000 (that’s 1.8 billion)
New certificates of obligation 173,780,000
Police and fire pension 400,000,000
Recent bond election 413,000,000 (that’s without interest)
Total $2,804,780,000 (that’s 2.8 billion dollars)
Our city population is about 685,000 people.
Each of us owes about $4,094 at this point.
We deserve better
Brutus
elpasospeak 
And yet we keep electing the same types. Those who see your wallet as theirs. Nationally and locally
LikeLike
Jesus wept. So does Chuy. And, so do we.
LikeLike
Almost 4 BILLION$$$$$ in debt and NO WAY to pay it all. Broke, busted, bankrupt and the El Taxo POLITICIANS, Public Officials just keep on taxing, wasting, spending, INCREASING taxes, wasting, spending more. Taking from the PEOPLE. OBJECTIONS El Pasoans??? Apparently not.. YOU just VOTED yourselves ANOTHER tax INCREASE.
LikeLike
This El Paso financial scenario makes me think of cities in California who have gone bankrupt, and now they are dying communities. Citizens homes go down in value because of the city bankruptcy and people try to sell their homes and move to more financially prudent communities.
Our city leaders show they have a “tax and spend” mentality and keep pushing our city towards financial destruction. This insanity must stop.
LikeLike
If you look at comments on news stories about the latest bond and projects, we seem to have a fair number of folks who actually believe that these projects will actually attract higher numbers of relocating companies or tourists. And worse, see our highly tax abated incentivized increase in strip malls as evidence of economic growth. In short, the average El Pasoan doesn’t have a clue about how financially imprudent current policies are. Nor is anyone thinking about the huge negative impact on sales tax revenue and fee-based revenue at downtown venues that I-10 Connect will have in the years it shuts down the middle of town replacing an interstate that according to TxDOT has exceeded its usable life plus raises every overpass to the new height requirements. The businesses and mall on the Westside that Go 10 practically killed for the three years are still struggling since shoppers found alternatives. I suspect the downtown freeway construction mess will be the straw that breaks the camel’s back in our tax and spend strategy, once the revenue shortfall occurs. I have nothing but disgust for our current city leadership.
LikeLike
There is an organized effort to stop the Trench plan (Re-Imagine I-10) in favor of completing a bypass to take interstate traffic away from the city center. Maybe finally El Paso will raise its voice.
LikeLike
Some researchers believe that 10% to 15% of the population experience occasional delusional ideation.
LikeLike
Exactly right. California cities, Detroit, Chicago, Portland. And the corruption of the POLITICIANS, Public Officials just continues to bleed the people, taxpayers of El Taxo. Tax, waste, spend, tax, waste some more. I moved out of El Taxo almost 2 months ago. As a Military, Disabled; Vet, a Retiree, I could no longer, survive, afford to live in this town where the people are over-taxed by corrupt politicians, Public Officials and get nothing in return. So after 30 years in El Taxo, I put my home up for sale and got the hell out. But because of the outrageous taxes, cost of “LIVING” there, economic conditions, NO job market, it has taken over 5 months to sell my home, even with price cuts. El Taxo has become nothing more than a homeless shelter for bums on every street corner and a sanctuary refuge for THOUSANDS of Illegals. All supported by the over burdened taxpayers, WORKING people of El Taxo. And so those people BECAUSE of politicians, corruption, Public Officials, just keep paying a MULTI-BILLION$$$$ debt with no end in sight, no realistic chance of ever paying the debts..
LikeLike
El Paso is the next Stockton, CA and for many of the same reasons.
LikeLike
I was taught not to carry debt. I feel sick by the debt the mayor, city council, and city manager have imposed on the people of El Paso. I am sure when bankruptcy comes all the crooks here will run away like all cowards. The people here won’t vote so all hope is gone.
LikeLike
They already own homes in other places like La Jolla, California.
LikeLike
El Paso is the 19th largest city in the U.S. and is ranked 140 in educational achievement of its residents.
LikeLike
Even worse, that “each of us” who owes about $4,094 includes every adult and every child!
LikeLike
You do all the taxpayers in El Paso a disservice. If you will check yesterday the city approved $5.5 Million dollars of non debt allegedly to be issued. But when they said these bonds are non-debt. It is still paid for by Ad Valorem tax. This means you are this with property tax money. This is the first bond issue totaling $5.5 million dollar of unlimited tax bonds, of which $24,500,000 of approved, but unissued bonds, will remain outstanding.
LikeLike
Folks, this is what economic development looks like: https://www.cnbc.com/2019/11/12/economic-case-study-huntsville-capitalizes-on-rocket-city-roots.html.
And the article doesn’t even mention that Toyota just put a plant there that is hiring 40,000 people. Btw, they don’t have IFly or Great Wolf. Go figure….
LikeLike
Huntsville’s baseball team is a AA team playing in a 30-year-old stadium.
LikeLike
And the first year it opened Jose Canseco was one of their rookies.
LikeLike
Uh, 4,000 jobs, not 40,000.
LikeLike
Read a headline that said 40,000. Turns out they were looking for 40,000 applicants for the 4000 jobs. https://huntsvillebusinessjournal.com/featured/2019/10/11/mazda-toyota-plant-looking-for-a-few-good-applicants-40000-to-be-exact/. All that said, it is 4000 more factory jobs than our ED dept delivered this year. Plus FBI, NASA and tech are expanding there.
LikeLike