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Bonds that hopefully will be paid by future solid waste revenues,
nor do they include $12 million of Cops bonds which Mooresville
Graded School District has authorized. If Iredell County incurs
this additional $41 million of debt, the County will have exhausted
80$ of its borrowing authority. Due to state and federal mandates,
it is probable that our county will be forced to spend money on
major, non -school capital projects. The county's ability to pay
for such future contingencies will be severely restricted, and with
so much of the available revenue obligated for debt service, it
will be more difficult to provide adequate funding for basic
services such as law enforcement and fire protection.
The estimated payback on the bonds is $65.5 million, thus
$24.5 million will be spent on interest paymentsnot toalone. schools,
is
$24.5 million of people's money that will go,
but to the bondholders. There will also be substantial legal and
insurance costs. The closing cost of the Cops Iredell issued last
year was $381,000. That money went, not to the schools, but to pay
lawyers and insurance companies.
No one knows exactly what the future facility needs of the
schools will be, but it is safe to predict that long before the
bond debt is retired, school officials will be asking for
additional dollars for major new capital project. If our county
has to finance even more school buildings and other capital
projects years before the $59 million dollar debt is retired,
Iredell County could find itself in nearly as bad fiscal shape as
the federal government. But, unlike the federal government,
Iredell County cannot print money.
The bond debt will be paid for with ad valorem property tax
revenue. While there is no such thing as completely fair tax, the
property tax is more unfair than most. Because the burden falls
disproportionately on certain groups. Many senior citizens whose
children have long since finished school have a large percentage of
their fixed income taken just to pay taxes on their land and homes.
A nine -cent increase in property tax rates will be required to pay
the debt service on the bonds. The tax increase would not be just
for one year, it would be for every year for the next twenty years.
Over that time the proposed bond would cost the average householder
about $1,700 in increased taxes. For many the cost would be
higher.
When this board voted on August 3 to schedule the referendum
I stated that I was not endorsing the bonds, but that I believed
the people should be able to vote on the issue. Unlike some of the
supporters of this referendum who were opposed to allowing the
people to vote on the school consolidation, I have always believed
the people should decide important issues. Whatever the outcome,
I will abide by the result and will continue my efforts to see that
County government is run in an efficient and economical manner
My hope is that the facts concerning the county's financial
condition and the total cost of the bond will be made available to
the people and they will go to the polls and make their preference
known.
COMMISSIONER STEWART MADE THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT:
There's a great deal of reality in some of the facts that you
have heard from Mr. Boone, and I guess I being one of those people
who in the past, as many of you know, felt that we should continue
on a pay-as-you-go basis, because just like the . . .you don't
get a buy on it at all because you end up paying your interest on
your credit card if you don't pay it off right away. I feel like
we could get a lot more "bang for our bucks" if we were doing it on
a pay-as-you-go basis instead of paying out all that interest to
banks and lending institutions as Mr. Boone has stated. But I also
have a very firm belief as I did with school merger, that the
decision lies with you, the people, and whatever you want us to do,
then I also am willing to abide by that and for that reason, that's