Quote:
Originally Posted by Scottolini
...Every time I see the Texas State Capitol building, or the University of Texas Clock Tower I get pissed off. What were those tax and spend liberals thinking blowing our money on such extravagances?
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The capitol was paid for by out-of-state investors who accepted land (in the panhandle, IIRC, which the State owned way too much of) as payment. The UT tower (which replaced the bat-infested, firetrap Old Main) was paid for by the PUF (oil money). Have you ever wondered why the Santa Rita oil rig is on display at Trinity/San Jacinto and MLK? Texas was the greatest oil producing region in the entire world at the time and much of it was under PUF land, so we could easily afford the new main building then. What would Kuwait University build as it's main building today?
The State had resources to sell back then. Austin's dreamers prefer debt to fund their extravagant boondoggles. The more bonds you sell, the lower your bond rating goes, and so the greater the discount you have to offer on your bonds for the next offering. Then one day the City will find that it REALLY needs a new water or sewer plant and we won't be able to raise the money to build it. Jefferson County (Birmingham), Alabama is going into Chapter 9 bankruptcy because their sewer system can no longer be funded by debt.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Scottolini
And don't get me started on the Austin airport, City Hall, Butler Park and it's fountain draining our tax dollars away, or any of the other countless "exciting" boondoggles plaguing our city.
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The airport generates revenue to pay-off the bonds (at least as long as oil stays under $200/bbl); we charge airlines for gates, landing fees, and other services, we get a piece of the action from every vendor in the place, and we charge for parking. The airport is paying for itself.
The previous city hall (as opposed to the council chambers) was the
building at 8th & Colorado and was hopelessly antiquated, overcrowded, and couldn't be expanded. The cost of keeping the ancient air conditioning running or replacing it, and asbestos abatement alone justified a new facility.
The Butler family donated the park land to the city, and parks should have things like fountains and other attractions so I'm going to ignore your generous offer of a strawman.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Myomi
Yeah, and don't forget Zilker Park and the land around Town lake. What a waste of space. The city should definitely lease all of it to the highest bidder.
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Trying to change the topic to something asinine doesn't change the facts of the previous topic. Back to the issue of bond debt, Barton Springs was
given to the City by Mr. Zilker, who later offered another 300 acres to the city for $200,000, which was funded by a bond offering. That's $3.2 million in today's inflation-ravaged dollars, or $10.7K per acre, so see my earlier comments about taking advantage of exceptional deals.
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