We hope that you have the opportunity to enjoy your family today.
Happy Thanksgiving.
Brutus
Thanksgiving wishes
November 22, 2018
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Posted by Brutus
EPISD–will they get caught?
November 21, 2018EPISD has a real problem.
In EPISD–some real numbers we pointed out that taking ten cents out of the interest and sinking fund rate and giving it to the operations and maintenance fund would leave the district without enough money to make their bond payments.
The district failed to mention that to the voters. The voters approved the move.
The district will have to add at least seventeen cents to our interest and sinking fund rate next year. That will not trigger a rollback election because state law allows them to raise the rate up to fifty cents per hundred without being subject to a taxpayer rollback effort.
Without more money in the interest and sinking fund account the district will not be able to honor its obligation to the bond holders. That could cause a bond default.
The district’s solution is shown in this document:
The document says “To make bond payments, there will be a transfer for the same amount from the GF (general fund, or operations and maintenance fund) to the DSF (debt service fund, or interest and sinking fund)”.
Texas attorney general
In July of 2017 the Texas attorney general wrote:
“Districts do not have authority to increase the maintenance and operations tax rate to create a surplus to pay debt service with maintenance and operations tax revenue”.
There you have it.
Their actions appear to be illegal.
We deserve better
Brutus
7 Comments | El Paso Independent School District, State Government | Permalink
Posted by Brutus
EPISD bond personnel changes at the top
November 20, 2018We are seeing troubling signs over at EPISD related to the bond issue.
The executive director for bond projects has resigned.
The project leader for Jacobs Engineering (the firm handling much of the bond money) has resigned.
The citizens bond advisory committee is pushing for more and different bond management.
We deserve better
Brutus
7 Comments | El Paso Independent School District | Permalink
Posted by Brutus
How do we know we got the best deal?
November 19, 2018Why is it that the city did not ask for competitive offers from the companies that build hotels with indoor waterparks?
Would any of them have turned out to be a better deal for us?
We deserve better
Brutus
12 Comments | City government | Permalink
Posted by Brutus
Is it a convention center or just a meeting room?
November 18, 2018The idea that the proposed water park will also be a convention center is a bad joke that is being played at the expense of the public.
The plans presented to the city detail a convention facility of 10,000 square feet.
By way of comparison our downtown convention center features 133,000 square feet.
A football field is 48,000 square feet. This center would fit within the first 20 yards.
Tradeshowexecutive.com ranks convention centers into four tiers with tier IV being the smallest. They consider the minimum size of a tier IV center to be 50,000 square feet.
It is hard to imagine that the Texas comptroller will consider this facility to be a convention center and so, according to the terms the city has offered the developer, the taxpayers of El Paso will have to pay the developer $40 million.
We deserve better
Brutus
12 Comments | City government | Permalink
Posted by Brutus
elpasospeak 
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