I heard someone observe the other day that people seem to do a better job singing our national anthem than they do happy birthday.
Brutus
Good government
September 7, 2018A loyal reader sent this in:
“…a wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government…”
–Thomas Jefferson, 1801
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EPISD–some real numbers
September 6, 2018Following up on our post the other day, we wrote in False Promise that EPISD is going to ask us to authorize taking 10 cents per hundred out of their interest and sinking fund property tax rate and adding it to their maintenance and operations rate (currently at $1.07 per hundred).
Until the issue is voted upon the district is required to publish a budget for next year. This slide came from their web site:
It shows that they currently plan to spend $47,070,011 on debt service.
That’s if we don’t allow them to change the current 24 cent interest and sinking fund tax rate to 14 cents.
Then they won’t have enough money to service our debts.
In fact this April 2017 presentation to the citizen’s bond advisory committee projects that they will need a tax rate of 31 cents for 2018-2019.
They are simply robbing Peter to rob Paul.
They want us to approve the tax rate swap knowing that they will have to raise the interest and sinking fund rate next year.
We deserve better
Brutus
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Coincidence?
September 5, 2018A loyal reader pointed out this remarkable situation:
The assassination of Archduke Ferdinand is said by many to have started world war one.
The war ended by armistice on November 11, 1918 or 11 11 18.
Below is a picture of the car he was riding in when assassinated:
The plate reads A111 118.
Some interpret that as Armistace 11 11 18.
Brutus
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False promise
September 4, 2018The EPISD board of trustees will ask us at the next election to authorize lowering their interest and sinking fund tax rate by ten cents and increase their maintenance and operation tax rate by an equal amount.
They want us to believe that this move will not cost us anything.
They also point out that doing what they ask will bring in an additional $7.5 million from the state. They don’t tell us if the extra money will come to us every year or if the $7.5 million is a one-time deal.
No cost
The board tells us that voting for this will not cost us any money.
That is simply not true. The school district has debt that must be paid off using the interest and sinking fund.
The district has not told us that the $7.5 million will be applied to reducing debt obligations. In fact they have told us that the money will be used to pay a one time stipend to the teachers and to increase the district’s fund balance.
Taking ten cents out of the interest and sinking fund rate will slow down their debt payments–a process that will cost us interest money.
Also they are not reminding us that they are in the process of issuing over $660 million in bonds that will need to be paid from the interest and sinking fund.
How can they do that when they are lowing the debt rate by 10 cents?
How can they do that?
It’s simple, they can’t.
Watch out next year and see how they raise the debt rate.
We deserve better
Brutus
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elpasospeak 
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