More Lies From Those Lying Liars

Another City Council meeting, another cubic yard of manure. From our English language daily:

The city will issue an extra $15.5 million in debt to build the second phase of the East Side sports complex, which officials said will be paid back by future property owners in the area without impacting the overall city tax rate.

“The only individuals that will be impacted are people who choose to live in the area,” said Robert Cortinas, director of the Office of Management and Budget. “There’s no impact to the tax rate.”

The city will issue certificates of obligation, or debt [that] doesn’t require voter approval and are normally repaid with property tax revenue, for the project. In this instance, the debt will be repaid with revenue generated by Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone No. 9 and a Public Improvement District that were created earlier this year, Cortinas said.

There are currently no homes in the zones, but Cortinas said a consulting firm projected that about 2,200 homes will be built there in the next 12 years.

Here’s an excerpt from the ordinance they passed:

Whereas, the [Texas Tax Code] Act provides that a governing body of a municipality by ordinance may designate a noncontiguous geographic area that is within the limits of the municipality to be a reinvestment zone if the governing body determines that development or redevelopment would not occur solely through private investment in the foreseeable future . . . .

Did City Council decide that the “consulting firm” wasn’t reliable? Or that homes wouldn’t be built there unless there was a mega-park nearby? Of course the park was already going to be there. They’ve already built two fifths of it.

“We don’t anticipate any issues with generating revenue, and in fact; it’s quite the opposite,” Cortinas said. “We are projecting around year five or six that we’ll actually start to see an increase (and) more revenue being generated than what’s needed for the debt payment.”

Under the Public Improvement District, homeowners in the area would pay $3,000 in fees to be used for improvements within the district itself, including the complex. Those homeowners would have the option of paying $200 per year for 15 years.

I guess that extra $200 a year makes that area more attractive for prospective homebuyers. You know, reverse price elasticity, where the more you charge, the more consumers buy. Maybe that’s the City’s whole philosophy, to give the city the allure of exclusivity.

East Side city Rep. Dr. Michiel Noe said he does not anticipate any issues in generating revenue.

“Going by past performance, there’s no concerns (about) people moving to the East Side. We can’t build homes fast enough,” Noe said.

This park is Representative Dr. Noe’s legacy project. It may, someday, bear his name.

His statement regarding the housing boom on the East Side seems to indicate that maybe development would occur solely through private investment in the foreseeable future, contrary to the stipulations of the Texas Tax Code as cited in the ordinance itself.

Those Quality of Life projects have their own aroma. It’s kind of like our City Reps stepped in dog poo, and they’re trying to get it off by walking around the house.

As far as the lies the City perpetrates on the citizens, this one is pretty mild. No harm, no foul. But bending the letter of the law does seem to be standard operating procedure for the City Attorney’s office.

4 comments

  1. Can’t build houses fast enough ? That’s true but how does one explain all the empty houses and apartments? Airport traffic is down and there are private companies coming nor is there a plan to bring more military into the area.

    Remember a couple of years ago with the FT Bliss growth, they went crazy building because they believed that a general, a mayor and a congressman had enough influence to guarrantee that Bliss wouldn’t close and the European based forces would move to Bliss.

    What happen ? They were told that it was up to congress and geopolitics that would decide if the forces would come. They said that was a lie and forces would definitely arrive. Things changed and the forces were restationed in the former Eastern Bloc.

    I can’t believe that council and county tell lie after lie and people believe them. Remember the Toll road, that was a total failure but it was going to be a money maker.

    They won’t admit that it will cost a million a year to maintain the trolley and stay very silent about it. The Brio buses, despite the fact that the windows were darkened even more, are carrying about 2-3 passenagers. And the regular buses are right behind them on the same route. Remember the computerized trash cans, another joke. Remember the super sized tv screen that is always down for maintenance. Remember the mini Central Park, it was supposed to be packed. Well, it’s not. No toilets and they installed more parking meters so that’s another failure. Remember the stadium was going to be packed, even with giving tickets for free it looks just like a NFL stadium. Children’s museum can’t get the money it needs, another failure. Another soon to be a failure is the Mexican museum. Guess they didn’t get the news about the birth rates and think we are soon to be extinct. What’s with all the hotel building. They can’t even maintain a 30% occupancy. Anything lower than that is considered a failure. Leave the lights on but we know the rooms are not occupied. They got caugth lying about being the safest city in the US then tried to cover the lie with several variations of the title. Btw, Orourke still peddles that lie in east Texas. He even contradicts the US State Department travel warnings about Mexico.

    1. Jesus Christ. Now I’m really depressed. Thank God Budweiser is still on sale.

    2. Actually I think the estimate for the trolley yearly maintenance and operation is about $3 million. At $1 per ride, that’s 3,000,000 riders…ya think?

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