Rockwall resident Loafman: vote AGAINST $59.4 million bond package
Letter to the Editor:
I oppose the $59.4 million bond package Rockwall voters will consider May 12. While the propositions in the package vary in merit, asking Rockwall property owners to support additional debt under current economic conditions is undesirable if not irresponsible.
The people of Rockwall already pay very high property taxes. In 2012, according to Tax-Rates.org, Rockwall taxpayers will pay 2.16% of their property’s value in taxes. Of 3,145 counties in the U.S., only 56 have higher taxes. That puts us in the top 1.8% in the country! According to Forbes.com, only four Texas counties have higher property taxes, and only one is in North Texas (Collin County.) As a percentage of income, however, Rockwall County has the highest property taxes in the state, at 4.58% of median annual income.
Proponents tell voters 65 and over that their property taxes won’t be affected. True, but that doesn’t mean they won’t be affected. As Rockwall grows, every dime we spend on unnecessary things will be unavailable for critical infrastructure, police and fire protection, roads, schools, utilities, and public transportation.
Proponents of the package mention its total cost, worst case, is only 15.6¢ per $100 property valuation (a 30% increase.) But that’s an annual cost of $285.80 to the owner of a property at the median value of $183,200 (again according to Tax-Rates.org.) The athletic complex alone would cost the same taxpayer $120.90. To proponents that may not seem like much, but if one put that money in a 5-year CD at 1.8% instead, at the end of the 20-year bond term, they would have accumulated $27,447. Alternatively, if the city took that money out of our pockets right now to pay the bonds, it would cost each taxpayer $14,400.
I don’t opposed nice sports facilities. In fact, I don’t oppose any of the improvements these bonds would support. I do oppose the unnecessary incurrence of additional debt when there is such uncertainty regarding international markets, federal debt and leadership, and the substantial economic adversity that average families in Rockwall currently face. Rejecting these bonds now doesn’t mean we can’t re-visit the issue when things improve.
Please vote AGAINST the bond package, or at least consider each proposal on its necessity and vote AGAINST those that can wait.
Thom Loafman
Rockwall Resident
Look folks:
There is really never a great time for money to be spent, especially in recent times. However, construction costs for the Sports Complex would be better now than they will be down the road. Rockwall lags behind many of the other local area cities in sports facilities for our children. Our children deserve better, even if costs are incurred to achieve those goals. It isn’t our children’s fault that previous bonds and expenditures were spent on other structures, such as the Taj Ma Hal (sic) county court house, etc. Just ask any parents who have kids in various sports and they will tell you that they have to travel to out lying cities to enter their children into sports programs because Rockwall doesn’t currently have the complex facilities. I’m willing to bet the authors writing in this blog opposed to the sports complex most likely don’t have young children and don’t want to consider the tremendous impact that a sports complex could have, not only on our local youth, but also on our hotels, restaurants, etc, by having baseball, softball, soccer, and other tournaments that draw crowds to a given local. Just by reading some of the other blogs, it is apparent that many folks are ill informed with what the sports complex would have entailed. It would have included a multitude of sports facilities, as previously mentioned: soccer, baseball, softball, and other sports. Hopefully next time this subject comes up for a vote, opponents won’t be so naive or quick to shoot it down.
I agree. Now is not the time. People have an uncertain future with where the economy is headed and spending more tax payer money is irresponsible.
I agree 100%. This looks like a nice improvement package which is scary, because how many voters are going to overlook the total cost? How many residents are not going to show up to vote? The total cost is easily more than $20-25/month per house. This is not the economy to be trying to pass I like the idea of a sports complex, but this one is very limited. We should be planning long term for an indoor/outdoor sports our kids play. Think of all the improvements that could be made over at the RISE. A city/county facility like the Plano Sports Authority building should be in the long term plans for Rockwall, not just baseball fields.
I also agree. Don’t spend what you don’t have.
I agree 100% with you! Nicely put.