Saturday, January 31, 2009

reasons to say NO

Letter to the News-Leader Editor – for consideration:

Springfields’ Bond Rating scare

The newest “The sky will fall in if the citizens don’t approve our 1% tax proposal” line from our City Administration is that the City’s bond rating will go to pot, and it will be much more costly to carry out the capital project spending planned by the City.

People, the City Council and the Administration have a published 5-year capital program of items that they want to build that are projected to cost $1 billion dollars – just for construction costs. That’s ONE BILLION! Oh, yes, with that kind of spending, the City’s interest costs for all those projects will be drastically higher with any new and higher bond interest rate.

We have a Council and an Administration that really likes to spend on their Capital Improvement Projects. Spending when you have the money is fun. Spending, when you THINK you have the money, is the way to achieve certain bankruptcy.

Are all those Capital Improvement Projects really necessary? Does Springfield really need more park and greenway facilities and streetscapes now? Do we need to build more parking garages that cost more than they’re worth? How many dollars do we need to pump into “Downtown projects” to subsidize private developers? The City has shown no inclination to cut these projects in these tough times.

We, the taxpayers, are stuck with an Administration that has announced they will cut twenty-eight police positions as their first-round response to any “no” vote come February 3rd. This does say quite a bit in defining the Administration’s priorities.

James R. Hornaday, Jr.

Springfield

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