all the bond packages passed

[crazyt]

there is some good stuff in there for bike trails, so hopefully we will see continued expansion and connection. 

With e-bikes dropping in price I predict a lot more people will be able to bike commute, especially on dedicated bike lanes that dont intersect with cars at all.

Edited November 7, 2018 by crazyt

[TAF]

I shall look forward to the hike in property tax to pay for them all.

[The Tip]

Huh? Pay?!  You mean all that money doesn't come free from somewhere?

[TAF]

Just now, The Tip said:

Huh? Pay?!  You mean all that money doesn't come free from somewhere?

It's my personal opinion that every one of those bond packages should have a $ per taxpayer value next to it on the ballot machine. That way, people might start to figure out that it's not free money!

[The Tip]

That makes complete sense and would be very logical so of course there is not a chance of that ever happening.

[AustinBike]

The chronicle did the math on them. Basically amounted to ~$5 per home per initiative. Based on the fact that my property taxes get jacked by $800-1000 per year, even if all of the initiatives passed it would be a drop in the bucket. If we don't invest in infrastructure we'll be...um...well..exactly where we are now. I don't have an issue with this, I had an issue with prop J getting defeated. Combine Adler with no prop J and you can be assured that there will be another CodeNext and we'll all be screwed. After the last debacle I'm surprised that everyone gave the city freedom to try it again. Oh well, when it happens I don't want to hear people bitch about getting bit by the snake they nursed back to health.

[ATXZJ]

I have a bigger problem with the corporate welfare system in this city and state than any public works project. Besides, your assessed "value" is the biggest factor in paying too much in property taxes, and yes i live in austin. Take the good with the bad in a booming economy.........

 

Edited November 7, 2018 by ATXZJ

[RidingAgain]

"...corporate welfare..."

I get it... But sure sounds like an oxymoron.

[TAF]

2 hours ago, AustinBike said:

Basically amounted to ~$5 per home per initiative. 

Note: per month.

[TAF]

The City of Austin currently has approximately $1 billion in debt (and interest owed on this debt). Assuming the 2016 published debt service rate of 10.62 cents per $100 of taxable assessed property value, I pay in excess of $700 per year to support the City's debt service.

From the 2017-18 Fiscal Budget presentation: "and second, the debt service portion of the tax rate is growing one third of a penny due primarily to the continued implementation of voter approved bond programs."

So it might add up to more than you think, all you do-gooders who vote in favor of all the props every year.

[Teamsloan]

I just don't get why we need bonds to get things done like maintaining our roads and public pools. Does City Council not know how to follow a budget? A lot of what we are approving bonds for seem like basic services that a city should have money budgeted for. I voted against for a bunch of stuff because I can barely afford my taxes as they are now. Quit throwing money away with corporate incentives and maybe our city would actually go back to being affordable without having forced generosity to provide affordable housing.

[AntonioGG]

This is no different than corporations do (in fact lots of towns are cities are corporations.)  Everything you buy--whether you're a captive customer (like being a citizen in a city) or a customer by choice (buying a car)--has a debt service cost to it.  No corporation or town operates in a mode where they save money for 10 years before they can do something.  The State of Texas or the Federal government don't either.    Most people also finance their shit--some more irresponsibly than others.  So borrowing the money is not the issue right?  Is it the debt/income level?    

What's the alternative?  Put off capital improvement projects?  We have shit falling apart already.  I just went to my kids' middle school for a meeting (blue Ribbon school in RRISD, I pay a ton of taxes to them, gladly) and their little ID badge printer started spitting out a bunch of them instead of just the one.  The lady said their system has been acting up and needs to be upgraded.  She then asked me "did the bond package pass?".    One thing I check for in all these bond packages is for frivolous things like football stadiums which I haven't seen.  In the last couple of years, I see a lot of "upgrade HVAC system, repair/upgrade electrical equipment" in the bond packages.  For the affordability bonds...well, no CodeNext, no $15/hour minimum wage means people living in affordable "suburbs" (really it's other towns) and using the roads and infrastructure to go into town.  I think looking at the big picture can show that this is not a perfect or easy system to deal with.

A growing city means this kind of stuff.   

[TAF]

1 hour ago, Teamsloan said:

I just don't get why we need bonds to get things done like maintaining our roads and public pools. Does City Council not know how to follow a budget? A lot of what we are approving bonds for seem like basic services that a city should have money budgeted for. I voted against for a bunch of stuff because I can barely afford my taxes as they are now. Quit throwing money away with corporate incentives and maybe our city would actually go back to being affordable without having forced generosity to provide affordable housing.

EXACTLY! And to AntonioGG, the alternative is to pay for basic infrastructure improvements using the remainder of my $15,000 tax bill, instead of continually asking for more money to do the same job. Don't even get me started, youngster.

[TheX]

I don't have kids in public schools, they can use that part of my property taxes for infrastructure.

[AustinBike]

I don't have any kids. But I pay for education because I don't want stupid people in this world. It is a tall order here, but education is important and worth funding. It ultimately protects my investments.

[Kyle]

12 hours ago, AntonioGG said:

t's the alternative?  Put off capital improvement projects?  We have shit falling apart already.  I just went to my kids' middle school for a meeting (blue Ribbon school in RRISD, I pay a ton of taxes to them, gladly) and their little ID badge printer started spitting out a bunch of them instead of just the one.  The lady said their system has been acting up and needs to be upgraded.  She then asked me "did the bond package pass?".    One thing I check for in all these bond packages is for frivolous things like football stadiums which I haven't seen.  In the last couple of years, I see a lot of "upgrade HVAC system, repair/upgrade electrical equipment" in the bond packages.  

There was some serious jaw clenching action on my part when I voted yes for the RRISD bond.  Either you submit to a wildly mismanaged system that squanders all kinds of money, or they educate your kids in squalor.

The bond makeup is here:  https://communityimpact.com/austin/round-rock-pflugerville-hutto/education/2018/08/21/breaking-down-round-rock-isds-508m-bond-proposition/

I'm sure they're getting competitive quotes:

Redo field to get rid of roots, rocks, etc.

$296,382

[cxagent]

5 hours ago, AustinBike said:

I don't have any kids. But I pay for education because I don't want stupid people in this world.

Does it work?

Edited November 8, 2018 by cxagent

[cxagent]

I voted for and against several of the bonds. Some I thought were appropriate ways to finance improvements. Unfortunately, the way they were mixed together appeared to be done intentionally to make them pass.

Just some general comments -

I would vote FOR items like buying land for parks, affordable housing, water quality protection. Every year that passes means there is less and less opportunities to capture that land. And the cost of the land will continue to rise.

I would vote against "affordable housing" that was a "welfare handout". If 'we' give money today to a homeless person, they will need another handout tomorrow and next week and next year and next decade. And 'we' will need more and more and more money to pay for those handouts. Conversely, if we teach that person to earn a living, they can support themselves from now on. And that person will pay taxes to help pay for other improvements and infrastructure. And it quickly becomes clear who needs a hand up (education) and who wants a handout (welfare).

One way to help with "affordable housing" would be to reduce the cost and red tape to build houses. When construction is shut down waiting weeks or even months for a City inspection, the cost is passed on to the consumer/buyer. Yes, I personally have experience with this problem. To keep this short, I waited six months for an inspection to be approved when the inspector was pulling requirements from a code the City of Austin had not adopted. I had to get an interpretation from the code writing body that the adopted code has no such requirement. Even that code body laughed at the inspector's "requirement" that duct smoke detectors were required in outdoor air ducts. And I sent an invoice for several thousand dollars to the building owner since I had to spend my time to "fix" the inspector's interpretation.

Edited November 8, 2018 by cxagent

[TAF]

Indeed, Kent. My approach is to first distinguish between bonds to fund projects that should already be funded by my existing property tax, or by promises (ha ha) which the City has previously made ... and the rest. Funding for parkland is always in 'the rest', for me, and I continue to vote in favor of it.

[AustinBike]

6 hours ago, cxagent said:

Does it work?

sadly, not yet - but there is still a chance

[AustinBike]

Also, "affordable housing" is not affordable housing. It is lower priced housing closer in. 

If you want affordable housing, Buda, Kyle and Manor are pretty affordable. But they are not close to downtown. You are not providing "affordable housing" you are subsidizing a shorter commute.

When I lived in Chicago I used to drive an hour + to get from my house to my job. If we are concerned that police, firefighters and teachers can't afford to live in Austin I get that. Waive their property taxes. That is a better solution than the convoluted "affordable housing" scam that the city is working on.

[AntonioGG]

1 hour ago, AustinBike said:

Also, "affordable housing" is not affordable housing. It is lower priced housing closer in. 

If you want affordable housing, Buda, Kyle and Manor are pretty affordable. But they are not close to downtown. You are not providing "affordable housing" you are subsidizing a shorter commute.

When I lived in Chicago I used to drive an hour + to get from my house to my job. If we are concerned that police, firefighters and teachers can't afford to live in Austin I get that. Waive their property taxes. That is a better solution than the convoluted "affordable housing" scam that the city is working on.

I don't think of it just as a shorter commute, I think of it as less millions spent on more lanes and more bridges and more road maintenance because more people are commuting from 29 & 183 or Elgin or Bastrop or Kyle or whatever.  All those people will start voting and writing and complaining about their traffic, more roads get built and those are immediately filled up (proven time again.)  How much does 1 mile of 4-lane highway with 2 lanes of access cost?  IIRC it was $10M something like 30 years ago.  It's not just teachers and firefighters that need the break either.

[AustinBike]

While I agree that more than teachers and firefighters need a break, why do I have to foot the bill for that?

We need public servants (teachers, firefighters, police, etc.) But waiters, retail people, the guy at the Jiffy Lube, why do I need to fund that? The affordability for those people is the responsibility of the business. Basically "affordable housing" is another way for businesses to not pay people enough money. No need to give them a raise if I am footing the bill for part of their house.

I am an economist by trade. All of these offsets only create more problems for us. The concept of affordable housing is just a subsidy by the taxpayers that allows others to shirk their responsibility. I'd rather give a fireman a $10,000 raise then come up with a convoluted housing strategy. 

[ATXZJ]

2 hours ago, AustinBike said:

. I'd rather give a fireman a $10,000 raise then come up with a convoluted housing strategy. 

THIS^

"“Money is like manure; it's not worth a thing unless it's spread around encouraging young things to grow.”

If Austin is going to pitch itself as alternative for  techies in norcal to relocate to, we need to act accordingly when it comes to our public servants who keep things together behind the scenes.  My wife has been in education for 16+ years and we have been looking to relocate to the PNW after our freshman graduates. If she took a lateral move to a district in the seattle/bellingham area she'd earn 40% more than she does here and have a better retirement. 40%!! Furthermore the COL in bellingham is about the same as in Austin. Teachers make more in WA than ADMIN do in the Austin area. 

APD is asking for more officers and cant get it, but we can build a riverwalk?? Red river and dirty sixth is a f@cking mess to deal with when you want to go see a band or catch a movie at the ritz. The homeless issue is truly embarrassing and the city should be ashamed that it has gone on for so long. 

Get the arc out of downtown and spend the money to house these people so we're not doing the bum gauntlet every time we go down there.

The traffic issues will hopefully begin to sort itself in the usa as autonomous cars become accessible.

 

Edited November 9, 2018 by ATXZJ

[TAF]

6 minutes ago, ATXZJ said:

<snip>Red river and dirty sixth is a f@cking mess to deal with when you want to go see a band or catch a movie at the ritz. The homeless issue is truly embarrassing and the city should be ashamed that it has gone on for so long. 

That, and why the f&ck has Shoal Creek Blvd remained in such a shitty condition for so long? They ripped it up to replace the pioneer-era sewage drains about a decade ago, promised to re-surface it and never did, and now it's full of potholes and temporary sealant, and a real hazard to cycle on. I guess it's only time until we see it on a bond proposal -- something which we've already paid for at least once, I'm sure.