Hello, Yupette,
I've looked at recent bond referenda and the ways the County is spending money from all sources. Whatever excuses the County Board makes for including street repaving, parks maintenance, and other operational expenses in bond referenda the reality is they've made so many promises to so many groups for expensive infrastructure that they can't avoid putting stuff like synthetic playing field replacement into future bond referenda. Arlington County does not deserve a AAA bond rating. It deserves a AA bond rating.
Dennis
14 comments:
Once Zimmerman is through leading Arlington to fiscal disaster we'll have a zzz bond rating.
Agree on the Aaa rating. They are desperately seeking funds from any available source to keep their pet projects, like the Artisphere, afloat.
They have a variety of schemes and scams going to both fool the rating agencies and the taxpayers.
One of PG County Executive Jack Johnson's achievements was obtaining an AAA bond rating for his county.
Arlington County deserves an A bond rating.
2011-2012 budget charade hearings begin December 2nd.
County manager's office has been seriously misleading the bond rating agencies and is starting to use infrastructure funds for operational expenses - so I would say Arlington deserves AA to A.
When they are meeting in the County Board offices and the topic of bond ratings comes up for discussion they strategize about gaming the rating system.
We live in the 5th wealthiest county in the United States - and there are more than 3000 counties in the United States. Yet County Government is always broke. Think about it.
Also think about this - no matter how much they raise taxes and how much new residential and commercial construction go onto the assessment rolls the County is resorting to games and gimmicks to use bond funds for operational expenses like parks maintenance.
Do the rating agencies know the County Board spends every dime it takes in and looks around for creative ways to strip money from long-term infrastructure to be used for their short-term pet projects?
County is moving to revenue bonds which typically don't carry AAA rating for projects like the CP Trolley, yet continues to put forth the misleading AAA claim. Expect revenue bonds for TIF's as well, anything to justify borrowing now and paying later.
LOL, the five of them will be outta here in 10 years leaving leaving the 20-somethings and 30-somethings they cater to figuring out how to deal with all the debt.
School Bonds? Did someone mention School Bonds? The so-called "School Bonds" the sheeple approved for constructing a new Wakefield HS are actually designated for building a regional recreation center with attached classrooms, with more temporary trailer classrooms to be installed shortly after the so-called "high school" is completed.
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