Welcome to Jim Carson – Author

I’ve opened up the blog for Jim to post as he wishes with the hopes that just maybe it will spur him to knock the dust off of Keller City Limits again.  I’m not holding my breath, but I do promise Jim if he does in fact resuscitate the old blog, I will keep all my off topic stuff here.

We Have Met the TIF, And He Is Us

Jim Carson sent the following to Dan O’Leary in response to his reasoning on the need for a TIF Refinance.  It is so good, I thought it best to add it as its own post.

---

Dan,

For too long, the City of Keller has treated its Town Center TIF [TIRZ] as some ne’er-do-well brother-in-law to whom we grudgingly loan money in hopes that maybe someday he’ll pay us back. The Town Center TIF was, is and always will be a project of, by and for the City of Keller. Everyone understands that the school district gave up 20 years of incremental tax revenue in return for a Natatorium. The Tarrant County entities signed on as a calculated bet that their tax revenues would be dramatically higher after twenty years of forebearance.

But it was the City of Keller that held all the cards. It was we who took the risk. It was we who would have reaped the rewards. And it is we who must now accept responsibility for its failure. The first order of business is for the city council to dispense with this talk of “subsidizing the TIF” and replace it with “paying for our losses.” It is just wrong to say “the TIRZ design has not paid the costs for this debt.” Intellectual honesty requires that we now say “our TIRZ design has not paid the costs for our debt.”

You did not create this mess. Neither did I. And sadly, neither did the voters of Keller, as they were never offered a vote in the matter. But the voters, and you, and I, inherited this problem. It is not fiscally responsible to punt our problem to a council and taxpayers a decade from now. Nor is it a “no brainer,” as the mayor suggested.

Many of the arguments you and the council members have offered in favor of this proposal amount to “these are conservative estimates, and if the TIF outperforms then we’ll be able to call the debt early and not incur so much interest.” This argument is both circular and specious. If the TIF begins to outperform, you’ll be able to make up the very shortfall you’re trying to wish away with debt. You will have solved a non-problem.

Your final paragraph disappoints me greatly. If the TIF had succeeded, would some other entity have provided the fire, police and other services? It is ridiculous to call this a subsidy. Again, we have met the TIF, and he is us, not our brother-in-law.

I strongly supported you as city manager, and still do, but it hasn’t escaped my notice that your only proposed solution to the TIF shortfall is the one that makes your job easiest. I would suggest that it is your responsibility to offer alternatives to the city council, and the people of Keller, that include cost-cutting measures in lieu of additional debt. I would be happy to offer some off the top of my head, or even sit down with you and the mayor and staff and go through the budget.

Several times in Keller’s recent history we have had Town Hall meetings to discuss specific spending increases. Is it not time to hold some Town Halls to discuss specific spending decreases?

Jim

---

Update:  My commentary above won’t make a lot of sense to those not well-versed in TIF issues.  For background, read Doug’s prior post, Let’s Just Refinance It Again.

Vicki Truitt Coffee Tour

From NBC5:

Truitt will begin her tour later this week in the Fort Worth area on Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. at Dunn Bros. Coffee (5040 N. Tarrant Parkway, Suite 136). The tour will continue through each city within the district on the following dates and at locations shown below from 7:30 a.m. to 9 a.m.

Feb. 12 in Keller at Snooty Pig Café
Feb. 19 in Southlake at Corner Bakery
Feb. 26 in Colleyville upstairs at Market Street
March 12 in Grapevine at Waffle Way
March 19 in Westlake/Trophy Club at Starbucks

Citizens of District 98 requesting more information may call Truitt’s office at 817-897-0056.  

Maybe somebody can ask her how many new taxes she will support in the future?

Can You Hear Me Now?

Vicki Truitt has stated that she didn’t get one negative response after the last session of the State Ledge…..I guess she doesn’t read this blog.

KELLER — Vicki Truitt is betting that she knows her district.

The six-term state representative from Keller is facing three opponents in the Republican primary for District 98, more than nearly every other member of the Legislature running for another term.

All three challengers cite Truitt’s prominent push for a transportation funding bill last year as a key reason they are running.

Truitt said she’s confident that her Northeast Tarrant County district will stand with her.

“I’ve never come home to a more positive reception after a session than I did this time,” Truitt said. “I did not receive one negative comment. It was all ‘Kudos. You’re doing a great job. Thank you for your service. We’re glad you’re there for us.’”

Her opponents, Giovanni Capriglione, Rich DeOtte and Diane Thorpe, counter that voters are furious at Truitt’s efforts to pass a local-option bill that would have authorized local elections to finance millions of dollars in road and rail projects.

“I think for three people to come up and all highlight the fact that she has not been conservative enough is a clear message that Republicans are fed up,” Capriglione said.

A private-equity professional, Capriglione has arguably run the most aggressively against Truitt, mailing a brochure tearing apart her record and posting the information on Vickipedia.me and TruittBlewIt.com.

Along with transportation funding, Capriglione has said he wants to reform school finance and make English the official state language.

“I know that these sound like intractable problems, but I don’t think anything is impossible in a world where there’s a Republican senator from Massachusetts,” Capriglione said at a candidates forum in Hurst.

DeOtte has cited his background as a civil engineer as making him uniquely qualified to address transportation.

“I understand the history surrounding our local transportation problems, and I can start with that issue very productively from the start,” he said. “Mainly, it’s a matter of priorities. We do not need to raise taxes to do that.”

DeOtte also touts his support for a constitutional amendment to limit state budget growth and a measure to make it more difficult for hospitals to cut off care for terminally ill patients.

Thorpe, a systems engineer, said her door-to-door meetings with voters have made it clear that the race is dominated by one issue.

“It’s been overwhelmingly transportation-oriented,” she said. “I guess we all spend a little too much time in our car.”

Thorpe said she doesn’t support letting local residents vote on measures like increasing auto registration fees to fund transportation improvements. She said the funding could be found if the state stopped diverting money from the gasoline tax to other parts of the budget.

Capriglione and DeOtte offered similar solutions to the transportation issue.

Truitt said last year that she supports ending diversions but that doing so would solve only half the road-funding shortfall.

“I don’t think they really understand the problem,” she said of her opponents.

When asked whether she will push for a local-option bill again if re-elected, Truitt declined to answer, noting that legislative committees are studying the issue.

“That’s not something I’m focused on right now,” she said. “There are some good people working on it, and we’ll see what ideas come from the interim studies.”

In recent weeks, Truitt has framed the campaign as being less about her opponents and more about the Austin-based Texans for Fiscal Responsibility. The conservative group wants less spending and less government intrusion in business and industry, and it has a history of pouring money into GOP primaries.

The group has criticized Truitt for her stance on transportation funding but has not endorsed any of her opponents.

“I don’t work for them,” Truitt said. “I work for the people in this district, and I will not let them influence me or intimidate me.”

Of course we couldn’t have a group that wants less spending and intrusion from Government influence the Queen of the Rodeo now, could we?

Let’s Just Refinance It Again

Thanks to Jim Carson who alerted me to the fact that the City Council is yet again talking about refinancing the TIF debt, and the consensus is that they will extend the debt out another 10 years past the expiration of the district.  The reason?

The City is currently subsidizing the TIF to the tune of $500,000 a year and that number is going to go up to around $600,000.  I’ve been saying this was going to happen for years and this isn’t a suprise, but instead of just biting the bullet and cutting spending, they want to extend the debt out so our kids can pay it back.  Sounds just like Washington D.C. to me.

They are going to say they are going to stabilize the tax rate on debt because they want to issue another $8,000,000 in debt this year.  Has anybody at City Hall heard of cutting spending?  Maybe the powers that be at City Hall need to take a Dave Ramsey course.  They are also saying that they could pay off the bonds early if the TIF ever turns around.  Have you ever heard of a government entity not spending “found” money on another pet project?

What will this cost us?  $800,000 $2.7 MILLION of extra interest.  Maybe former Mayor Tandy can write a check to cover the difference.

Don’t believe me?  Go watch the February 2nd City Council work session.

Funny

Cuz You Can’t Hang Yourself If You Ain’t Got Enough Rope

Today was supposed to be the first scrimmage for your Keller Indians, but if you are looking outside you know the game has been cancelled due to weather.  If I know Coach Stramp, he will do everything in his power to get the game in this week, even if it means playing in a snowstorm.  I’ve heard good reports on this years baseball team which looks to be pitcher heavy and the worry will be scoring runs.

Saturday night I had a quandary of sorts.  I had tickets to go see Pat Green at Billy Bob’s but Chris Knight was in town at the Granada.  I ended up giving my tickets to Pat to my daughter while Shannon and I headed over to Dallas to see Chris Knight for the first time.  If you, like most people, haven’t heard Chris Knight’s music I highly recommend you take the time to listen to some of his stuff.  Very powerful to say the least.   

If you are wondering about the title to this post, it’s a classic line from Chris Knight’s “Enough Rope”.  The Chorus is as follows:

But I’m thankful for the things I have,
And all the things I don’t.
And I’ve got dreams that will come true,
I’ve got some that won’t.
Most the time I just walk the line wherever it goes.
‘Cuz you can’t hang yourself if you ain’t got enough rope.

Today is also the first day to file for office if you plan to run. 

Cameron Allerheiligen Commits to University of Arizona

The word on the street is Cameron verbally committed this weekend and signed his LOI today.  Wondering if Cameron will be playing baseball as well?

Who Will Run This Spring?

The Keller Citizen states that all three City Councilmen will seak re-election and two of the three School Board Members.  Jason Wylie has decided not to run again. 

I wonder if anyone from the City of Keller will actually run for School Board?  I wonder if anybody will challenge the incumbants at City Hall?

Goodbye 5-5A

The new UIL redistricting came out today and all of Keller Schools were moved out of 5-5A….seems kind of sad. 

Bad news for the Football team….Southlake is back in our district.

Bad news for the Baseball team…..Coppell will be in 7-5A.

Bad news for all teams….it will be much harder to make the playoffs.

Coppell

Denton Guyer

Keller

Keller Central

Keller Fossil Ridge

Northwest

Saginaw

Southlake Carroll

My guess is Denton Guyer goes away once Timberview gets the numbers for 5A.