If town commissioners approve Langtree at the Lake's request to help bond millions of dollars in infrastructure costs for Langtree's $800 million development, could Mooresville taxpayers ever be left holding the bag if the project ultimately flops?
That's the question everyone wants an answer to -- and it's the one that commissioners were able to ask bond experts at Monday night's informational meeting on the special assessment improvement district (SAID) bonds. What information did commissioners take away from that meeting? Click here for the Mooresville Tribune's coverage: http://www2.mooresvilletribune.com/content/2009/feb/25/weak-economy-langtree-bonds-are-likely-tough-sell/news-local/
And don't forget: a public hearing on the matter is scheduled for March 2 at the town's regular monthly board meeting. It begins at 6 p.m. in Town Hall.
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7 comments:
"Town Manager Steve Husemann suggested that town officials begin to explore their due diligence and look at what accounting firms might be able to help them with the project."
So the "experts" clearly indicated that this sort of financial arrangement is risky and that there is a very slim possibility of selling these bonds because they are high risk, but the town manager says to move forward. What am I missing? We'll be stuck with bonds which can't be sold -- but the taxpayers aren't at risk?
Due diligence is done -- no bonds for Langtree.
Agreed but lest we forget, the Developer is a 'local boy' just trying to help our Town. And the Town Board is staffed with other 'local boys'.
There will be sly glances at the Town meeting and Commissioners will show disdain and put on their game faces. The Town Attorney and CFO will present best case scenarios. The Mayor will call ask rhetorical questions already knowing the answers. Rader will sit their doing his last minute 'Rader Math'. In short, the script has already been written and the actors will play out their roles.
The Town Board will go through a pseudo 'due diligence' process making it look like they are protecting the Town and then approve the Bonds regardless of what the experts say. We've all seen this picture before with a different title. MI Connection was the last showing!
Make no mistake about it unless there is a mass protest or a court injunction, ToM will float these bonds for the 'local boy'.
The Howards make me sick. Little Howard tries twice to be elected to the county board of commissioners and fails. The timing of his run was always suspect to me. During this time he starts to show up at every meeting, function, events etc and tries to befriend every decision maker in the county.
Thank God the Iredell County board doesn't believe in pay to play.
Could the taxpayers be left holding the bag for Langtree? Ummmm...am I missing something or isn't that just the way it works. It's like if you co-sign a loan for your kid to buy a car (or a cable company) and they don't make the payment because they lost their job...YOU LOSE, PAY UP!
Ooooooo...someone said "Rader math"....that term should send fear down the spine of all good taxpayers.
I beleive local government around here actually seeks out the most absurd situations to obligate and waste tax dollars. Considering 10 million to renovate a 2 million dollar golf course, partnerships with developers at taxpayer risk, and the MI connection to name a few. Isn't it hard and costly enough just to provide the basic services required by this community? You have to admit our commissioner's track record in business decisions obviously can't compete with private enterprises. They are easy marks for the savy businessman.
If they would stick to the basics and forget about the backdoor deals ie. SICDC; they could look like heros.
Has anyone read the article in the Tribune about the possibility of establishing more recreational opportunities by building more satellite recreational facilities? The Asst. Town Manger says this would be a more expensive way to reach out to portions of the community which might need additional assistance. Several interesting things about the article:
1. The Asst. Town Manger made the proposal -- I guess he probably considers the golf course one of those proposed satellite programs.
2. This quote from the article: "Some commissioners said they felt the project had its merits, but others said they felt the town shouldn't become involved in what they saw as "social service" programs." -- yet we're talking about issuing bonds for a corporation -- so I guess we can provide social services to some people while not providing them to others.
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