Like all good trilogies, the third part marks the end. Tonight, the school board will defease the bond. I expect that they will not exercise their prerogative of review and simply follow through on this, thereby fulfilling a campaign promise. It's OK if you believe that's the right thing to do. I not sure if it is right or wrong just yet. I have not seen enough review on the subject to be sure.
ADDITION: The BCCT writes about this today. Also, if you want to speak before the Emperor and Hellman's Heroes, you need to be one of the first fifteen lucky participants.
The Federal Reserve will probably be cutting the interest rates another quarter to half percent today following last week's emergency rate cut of three quarter percent. This defeasement is getting really expensive. I'd like to see the due diligence that the board performed on this defeasement, but I do not expect them to share it with the public, if they did it at all.
We're handing back $24 million dollars and keeping around $6 million, (UPDATE Jan 30, defease 23 and keep 7) according to the latest estimates. The problem is that the 2005 feasibility study suggested that renovating the high school alone was at least $13 million. Where is this extra tax money coming from when it's needed? And it will be needed.
The board is acting recklessly. They are rushing toward this in secrecy without thinking through the intended consequences, let alone the unintended ones.
Even if you generally support the new board...even if you voted against the school...even if you think (or know) that your taxes are too high...step back for a moment and think about the process. This is a one shot deal. There is no going back. Do you believe that the board has done their homework for this assignment? I do not. They need to table this resolution and consult with the money people and the public to ensure that it's done right.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
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7 comments:
Does anyone know what this will do to Morrisville's bond rating? I mean, if we give back a loan, without investors getting their expected return, won't they be less likely to loan us money in the future if we need it?
I would seriously question the impact on out bond rating.
"Under a 1993 ammendment to the Sunshine Act, Boards, councils and authorities were required to permit residents and taxpayers to make public comment at their advertised regular and special meetings". There is more, but it's too much to type. In sumation, after reading this whole dang book, cover-to-cover, they have no legal right to cut off public comment that I can see. I am calling a lawyer right now. I'll be in touch.
Okay, I spoke with the school law attorney and they said that what our Board is doing is an extremely loose interpretation of limitations that they can impose, and it would almost certainly be ruled a violation of the Act if challenged in court. It is the act of a Board who does not want to listen to their community and they were shocked to hear of it happening. Chances are they were told this by the school solicitor, but are banking on nobody ever challenging them. If there is no challenge than they will get away with it. A challenge will lead to almost certain victory.
Let's say we could develop a device like the "Voice Algorithm Duplicator" used in the 1971 James Bond movie Diamonds are Forever. Ya think we or the Courier Times could replicate the voice of one of Hellmann's supporters and get him to answer the phone (and our questions)?
Replying to Borows, for what it's worth, the guy who'll be handling the defeasement (forgive me, my paperwork isn't here with me and I forget his name) was asked that question and he said that it wouldn't affect the bond rating in the future. The previous board's bond counsel said it could make it more expensive to borrow in the future. Obviously, only time will tell. Bill Hellmann has repeatedly stated that some guy at Wachovia said he'd lend us all the money we want at a better rate than RBC (the financier of the original bond), but after repeated requests for that information in writing, I still have only Bill's word.
Well, there ya have it, folks. Easy come, defease-y go.
6-3 with Frankenfield, Kemp, and Reithmeyer voting no.
I finally got the email where the guy Bill knows said he'd be happy to do business with Morrisville School District. He's a Wachovia VP, so there's that. The biggest hump to get over will be referendum. Now that the new board has "wiped the slate clean," they can feel pretty safe that nothing major will ever get done because a majority of voters will have to vote themselves a tax increase. Band-aids, band-aids are the future as I see it. Today, I reminded the board in an email that we still have many, many issues at the elementary level that we can't continue to ignore. The new school is history, now they have to fix all the things that we would have fixed with new construction.
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