Saturday, July 01, 2006

Blago says no referendum, no money for District 150

Gov. Blagojevich is going to amend legislation so that the Public Building Commission of Peoria could pay for new school construction in District 150, provided taxes don't go up without voter approval.

My two cents: Good.

I was under the impression Peoris School District 150 wanted access to PBC funding because it would allow bonds to be sold without triggering the need to take the issue to voters. If there must be a referendum on the buildings District 150 wants to build, I would hope that essentially kills their plans for a 15-acre, suburban style campus in the densly-packed urban residential East Bluff neighborhood. One hopes.

But I'm curious as to how the PBC could possibly issue bonds for District 150 without raising taxes to pay them off, which is what State Sen. George Shadid and others apparently think is the case.

And if there's money being collected now -- by any entity -- that could be used to pay off these still theoretical bonds, well ... then why the Hell is it being collected already? If so, then taxpayers need to have that money rebated, ASAP. There's no sound reason to collect money to pay for construction that hasn't been approved by voters.

Cross posted at Peoria Pundit.

2 comments:

Anonymous,  9:22 AM  

Refinancing existing debt. The financial wizards have been crunching their spreadsheets, and there are a dozen ways you can take existing revenue streams and build more.

Anonymous,  11:49 AM  

PBC debt is interesting. PBC borrows, builds (and equips?) structures. Then they lease it to the using entity (County, City, School District.)

The PBC debt does not count against the debt limit of the user. Lease rental payments come from an unlimited fund and do not apply against the levy limits.

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