Last week the Greensboro City Council passed the largest tax increase in the history of Greensboro, but the City Council wants more money to spend.
Although they have received little attention, the City Council has placed five bonds totaling $135 million on the ballot for the Tuesday, July 26 election.
Each of the five bonds are listed separately and voters will be able to vote “yes” or “no” on each individual bond.
While the $135 million in bonds pales in comparison to the $1.7 billion school bond passed by Guilford County voters in the May 17 primary, the amount is enough to add significantly to the budget. The City Council was told that $12 million in the $689 million 2022-2023 budget was to cover the cost of bond payments on the $135 million bond package.
Both Mayor Nancy Vaughan and District 3 Councilmember and mayoral candidate Justin Outling, who both also voted against the budget, said that allocating $12 million for bonds that had not passed seemed unnecessary. Outling noted that passage of the bonds was not the same as borrowing and spending the bond money on projects.
The advertising and promotion of government bonds is usually misleading because the proponents talk about particular projects that will be paid for with the money from the bonds. However, the City Council is only required to spend the bond money consistent with the language on the ballot, which is extremely general.
The five bonds on the ballot are $30 million in housing bonds, $70 million in parks and recreation bonds, $14 million in firefighting facilities bonds, $6 million in law enforcement facilities bonds and $15 million in transportation bonds.
The City Council has stated that it intends to spend $50 million of the $70 million in parks and recreation bonds on combining the Vance Chavis branch library and the Windsor Recreation Center into one facility. The estimated cost of that project when the City Council voted to put the bonds on the ballot in June 2021 was $70 million. Considering how construction costs have risen in the past year, it is unlikely the city will be able to build the facility as planned for that amount and the City Council is under no obligation to spend $50 million on that project. The City Council could vote to spend all $70 million on that one project or not spend any of the $70 million on the Vance Chavis-Windsor project at all.
You have to be an idiot to vote for this totally unnecessary expenditure. I am sure that the “community” members of council and their constituents will approve as they pay nothing in taxes because they are on the government dole.
This city is 45% black they are the tax payers.
How do you figure when less than 10% own property and less have a job
Like in Detroit, you mean?
Why is the new Kiser Middle School to be built on the Grimsley Baseball/Softball fields? Grimsley will need to move games to other locations! Why don’t they use the land behind the current Kiser school or find another location?
Why is the closed Hebrew School going to be used to house and educate thousands of illegals? Most of them are teenage boys! Crime will surely soar in those neighborhoods! God help us all.
NO
5 no votes here!
Anything in that want box that includes hiring more police officers with better pay and benefits, free of govt meddling?
Once again this city council is out of touch with their constituents. The housing bond is probably the most important bond. The 70 million bond for parks and rec is not in touch with our economy. It is time to send some of these folks that are so out of touch home… IT IS A TIME FOR CHANGE!
Elect Tony Wilkins, Thurston Reeder & Katie Rossabi to the council, they will be good stewards of the tax payers money.
The council showed their arrogance when they placed money in the budget for all of the bonds that have not passed the vote!
Why would we support bonds with the budget City Council just approved. Some of the bonds are needed but with a 30% property tax increase you can forget it. Lose the whole council and this new Manager with no experience. That is fast becoming very obvious.
There is never enough money to satisfy the greed of the Parasitic Sector.