The citizen’s bond advisory committee for the EPISD bond issue is having attendance problems.
It looks like the group is doing the right thing and is starting to replace members who don’t show up for meetings.
These people have a responsibility to us citizens. Those who cannot attend regularly should resign and get out of the way.
We deserve better
Brutus
6 Comments | 
El Paso Independent School District | 
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Posted by Brutus
What are the totals for the tax breaks/incentives/gifts that the city and county are donating to the water park?
There are probably amounts that I have missed but the ones above total $68,421,194.
That comes to $97,926,194 on a project where the developer promised the county a minimum $100 million investment but told the city that it would be over $150 million.
Most of us would take that deal.
We deserve better
Brutus
7 Comments | City government, County Government | Permalink
Posted by Brutus
Ross Moore sent this in:
The purpose of this E-Mail is to update you on the EPISD 2016 Bond. There have been several significant developments over the past month. These include issues in management, finances (your property taxes), project costs and project status.
1. Management. There is another major shakeup in the senior management of the 2016 Bond both on the District and Project Manager side of the house.
a. The Executive Director for the Bond Projects, Carlos Gallinar has resigned. I will note his predecessor resigned under a cloud.
b. The EPISD Project Lead for Jacobs Engineering has resigned.
c. The CBAC has been delayed to 12.6.2018 from 11.15.2018. I will note the CBAC has been vocal in its concerns about management, finances, projected costs and projects status.
2. Finances (Your Property Taxes). The Financial Markets have turned against EPISD over the past two years. They will affect Property Tax rates.
a. The 10 Year Treasury Bond Interest Rate has risen steadily for the past year. It is the benchmark that drives the Bond Market.
b. The higher the Interest Rate goes, the more it costs EPISD to borrow money.
c. The more it costs EPISD to borrow money, the higher your Property Taxes go.
d. Well over half the 2016 Bond hasn’t been put on the Bond Market, yet.
3. Project Costs. Inflation, Hurricanes, Tariffs, and Labor Costs have driven up Project Costs over the past two years.
a. It looks like Project Costs were underestimated in 2015/2016.
b. Demand for materials, like steel, aluminum and cement, have increased nationally and locally.
c. Steel has gone up 16% since the Bond vote in November 2016, as an example. Impact of Trump Tariffs have not hit yet.
d. Downscaling projects has already begun. What happened to Andress will happen elsewhere.
4. Project Status. According to EPISD, two years after the Bond Election, this is the status of major Projects.
a. In Design– 7
b. In Procurement – 9
c. Under Construction – 2
i. Crockett ES – Work has begun.
ii. El Paso HS – Nice ceremony, actual work “Someday soon.”
d. Completed– 0
7 Comments | El Paso Independent School District | Permalink
Posted by Brutus
The land (for the water park deal) that the city is trading so that it can give it away for $1,000 per year with a $10,000 buy out was formerly owned privately and was taxed around 54 thousand dollars a year by the city, $29 thousand a year by the county, $98 thousand a year by the Canutillo independent school district, $9,000 a year by our community college and $16,307 yearly by our county hospital. The total comes to $188 thousand each year.
Now that the city owns the land those taxes go away.
If the land is actually worth the $18.6 million that we are told the owner wants the tax situation would be different. The annual taxes would be $597,686.00.
Because the city has assumed ownership of the land, and thus the land cannot be assessed property taxes, the other entities are going to lose money also.
Using the claimed $18.6 million figure the Canutillo district will lose $284,580 per year for the ten years that the city will own the land.
The city tells us that homeowners pay a disproportionate part of the property tax (compared to businesses and industries) and then go right ahead and throw away a piece of property that would pay almost $600,000 a year.
We deserve better
Brutus
10 Comments | City government, County Government | Permalink
Posted by Brutus
The water park deal gets more expensive to the taxpayers every time we study it.
In addition to the deals that the city has made we now see that the county has chipped in also.
The deal with the county (read the whole thing here if you wish) has some differences from what we have been told previously by the city.
While the city has been telling us that the development company will be spending more than $150 million on the project, the deal with the county requires the developer’s minimum investment “to include cash and in-kind contributions in an amount no less than” $100 million.
And while we have been told that the land is worth $18.6 million we find that it is on the tax rolls at the appraisal district at $4,748,573.
Moving along as though those numbers don’t matter, the county has committed to give the developers up to:
The total is $4,295,094.10 if I ran my calculator correctly.
Remember that we cannot use the water park unless we rent rooms at the hotel.
We deserve better
Brutus
7 Comments | City government, County Government | Permalink
Posted by Brutus
elpasospeak 
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