County puts brakes on new road work

HARTride 2012 · May 9th, 2012, 02:29 PM

http://www2.tbo.com/news/news/2012/m...ork-ar-401570/

Quote:

Set to expire in 2026, the Community Investment Tax can't pay back future bond issues to finance roads and other projects.

"We can't use a credit card if we don't have any way to pay it off," said County Administrator Mike Merrill.

Last year, county administrators deferred $124 million in planned road work until 2014 because of declining revenues from the half-cent tax. Now, those projects and any others that may be needed to handle future population growth are being postponed indefinitely, said Bonnie Wise, the county's chief financial administrator.

"It declined for several years," Wise said. "Now, with the end in sight for 2026, we just don't have the CIT funds available to fund capital projects. It's going to continue to be a problem."

In other words, if we fall into an all out depression, all these projects will not leave paper until beyond 2020.

TampaMike · May 9th, 2012, 02:47 PM

But hey, let's vote against a transportation referendum that would had funded many of these road projects because the referendum also has light rail in and we believe that mass transit is some Socialist Democratic view.

Hillsborough gets what it voted for. What does No Tax for Tracks or 9/12 have to say? Toll the roads now?

Jasonhouse · May 9th, 2012, 03:13 PM

Love how halfway through the CIT's lifespan, they're already starting the "we need more money to be able to spend this moeny" BS.

Here's a novel idea since they're now claiming they have to save up before they can build something... Stick with it, and only PAY CASH for the projects from now on. Do that and watch how over time the cost of roadbuilding gets cut by more than half. (more than half the cost of financed roadbuilding projects vanish to interest charges from the banks providing loanshark financing to the biggest 'sure thing' customer of all, the taxpayers)

May 9th, 2012, 02:47 PM	#2
TampaMike Moderator Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Tampa, Florida Posts: 6,142 Likes (Received): 5	But hey, let's vote against a transportation referendum that would had funded many of these road projects because the referendum also has light rail in and we believe that mass transit is some Socialist Democratic view. Hillsborough gets what it voted for. What does No Tax for Tracks or 9/12 have to say? Toll the roads now? __________________ Corporations Are People Too - Mitt Romney For the People that dress up like Corporations.

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May 9th, 2012, 03:13 PM	#3
Jasonhouse Registered User Join Date: Jul 2002 Posts: 12,274 Likes (Received): 8	Love how halfway through the CIT's lifespan, they're already starting the "we need more money to be able to spend this moeny" BS. Here's a novel idea since they're now claiming they have to save up before they can build something... Stick with it, and only PAY CASH for the projects from now on. Do that and watch how over time the cost of roadbuilding gets cut by more than half. (more than half the cost of financed roadbuilding projects vanish to interest charges from the banks providing loanshark financing to the biggest 'sure thing' customer of all, the taxpayers)