Another $555 Million – Not Being Spent on Schools
The News and Observer reports, “Raleigh-Durham Airport officials just approved a $257.6 million contract to replace the red-roofed Terminal C,” and the total cost of the project is “expected to reach $555 million.”
So we have taxpayers funding:
• $555 million for a terminal at the airport;
• $215 million (and still rising) for the downtown Convention Center;
• $20 million for a downtown hotel;
• $1 million for a five star downtown restaurant;
• $1 million (they call this one a loan) for an upscale supermarket downtown;
• The town of Morrisville offering a Chinese computer conglomerate a $1 million incentive;
• And the TTA (Triangle Transit Authority) still wants $800 plus million for Lite-Rail.
And the schools are broke. And if we want to finish the Outer-Loop there’s no money – so it has to be a toll road.
The local politicians – led by Raleigh Major Charles Meeker – are spending all the money the can get their hands on (and then some) – but the schools are broke. What’s the solution? The politicians want to pass a couple of billion dollars in school bonds so they can borrow the money we need for schools (and, so, they can keep on spending elsewhere).
Does that seem backwards? Why don’t they take all (or at least part) of this money and spend it on schools? And then hold a bond vote to see if voters want to borrow to pay for these other projects.
The answer is simple: Because they suspect – probably correctly – voters are going to turn down bonds for paying for things like $215 million Convention Centers. So they are not going to let them vote on that. They’re going to make them vote on school bonds instead.
Another $555 Million – Not Being Spent on Schools
The News and Observer reports, “Raleigh-Durham Airport officials just approved a $257.6 million contract to replace the red-roofed Terminal C,” and the total cost of the project is “expected to reach $555 million.”
So we have taxpayers funding:
• $555 million for a terminal at the airport;
• $215 million (and still rising) for the downtown Convention Center;
• $20 million for a downtown hotel;
• $1 million for a five star downtown restaurant;
• $1 million (they call this one a loan) for an upscale supermarket downtown;
• The town of Morrisville offering a Chinese computer conglomerate a $1 million incentive;
• And the TTA (Triangle Transit Authority) still wants $800 plus million for Lite-Rail.
And the schools are broke. And if we want to finish the Outer-Loop there’s no money – so it has to be a toll road.
The local politicians – led by Raleigh Major Charles Meeker – are spending all the money the can get their hands on (and then some) – but the schools are broke. What’s the solution? The politicians want to pass a couple of billion dollars in school bonds so they can borrow the money we need for schools (and, so, they can keep on spending elsewhere).
Does that seem backwards? Why don’t they take all (or at least part) of this money and spend it on schools? And then hold a bond vote to see if voters want to borrow to pay for these other projects.
The answer is simple: Because they suspect – probably correctly – voters are going to turn down bonds for paying for things like $215 million Convention Centers. So they are not going to let them vote on that. They’re going to make them vote on school bonds instead.