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Saturday, June 19, 1999

Alternate project funds sought
Tax increase unnecessary, Schwing says
By Jennifer Stump and James A. Suydam
Caller-Times

The projects defeated in the Nueces County bond election last Saturday could still happen without raising taxes, Nueces County Commissioner Frank Schwing said.
   Schwing has requested that commissioners at their Wednesday meeting consider other ways to pay for raising the JFK Causeway, dredging Packery Channel, building a county fairgrounds and widening Farm-to-Market Road 624 in Calallen. Although the FM 624 project was not on the ballot, passage of the bond package would have freed up money to pay for the project.
   Voters shot down a $38.5 million bond package last Saturday that would have raised taxes by a penny for the next 20 years to pay for the projects. It failed 53 to 47 percent.
   About $1 million in public and private money was spent in pursuit of the bond election. The county spent $700,000 for a feasibility study of Packery Channel and the fairgrounds; it cost $90,000 to hold the election and a group supporting the bond sale raised about $175,000 to push the issue.
   Schwing said Thursday he is trying to salvage the $51.5 million in state and federal matching money that would have been available if the bond election had passed.
   "There's a larger question here," Schwing said. "If these projects could get done without raising your taxes, would you want them?"
   Previously, commissioners never openly discussed options on how to pay for the three projects proposed in the bond election - raising the causeway, dredging Packery Channel and building the fairgrounds. Instead, County Judge Richard Borchard designed the all-or-nothing financing for the election.
   Borchard could not be reached for comment Friday.
   Tax questions
   Schwing said the county could borrow about $23 million without increasing taxes.
   "We're in excellent financial condition," he said. "All it takes is three commissioners to raise their hands and say we're willing to get these things done."
   But County Commissioner Joe McComb said that he doesn't think the county can issue the necessary debt without raising the tax rate, which is why the court put the issue before the voters in the first place.
   "I mean, the math's pretty easy. Without a tax increase, we need that extra penny to come up with that other $20 million," McComb said. "That is, unless (Schwing) is going to eliminate one of the projects, or unless he has some funds that I'm not aware of."
   McComb said the county can't afford to do all four projects without raising taxes.
   "We can issue about $18 million (in debt) without raising the tax rate, but in order to get to $38.5 (million), we'd have to raise the tax rate a penny," McComb said. "And so we said, 'Well, if we're going to do that and take on the additional debt and raise taxes, we need to get voter approval,' " McComb said.
   Despite the voters' rejection of the $38.5 million bond package, McComb said he doesn't think that means that voters don't want the projects.
   "No one really can say why it failed - I only know what I read in the newspaper or what I hear around town. But I don't think the voters rejected the projects, they rejected the way they were packaged," he said. "We just need to find another way to skin this cat."
   However, Commissioner David Noyola said he doesn't think voters want all the projects. Noyola said he only supports issuing the debt needed to raise the JFK Causeway.
   "That's a life or death issue," he said. "The voters have rejected Packery Channel, but the raising the causeway, that could save lives."
   Schwing said the causeway elevation and the widening of FM 624 are safety issues that commissioners should address. The fairgrounds and Packery Channel are issues of economic development and quality of life, he said.
   "The reasons for doing these projects hasn't changed," Schwing said. "We have the credit to do those projects without raising taxes."
   Financially strong
   The county owes about $5.4 million for jail, juvenile and county building improvements, Auditor Peggy Hayes said.
   Financial advisers told commissioners in March they could borrow about $18 million without raising taxes. Since the $5.4 million debt will be paid off by the time the bond projects would start in two to three years, Schwing said the county could borrow about $23 million.
   "We're in such a good financial situation that we could borrow that much and still be considered financially strong," Hayes said.
   Hayes also said that 2.68 cents of the county's 33-cent tax rate, which goes toward a bond for the Port of Corpus Christi, will be retired this year. In the 2000-2001 budget, taxes would have gone down by 1.5 cents even if the bond election had passed, she said.
   Juan Aguilera, an attorney with Fulbright and Jaworski in San Antonio who works with the county on bond sales and elections, said commissioners would have to go to the voters again if they wanted to sell general obligation bonds.
   Commissioners could add the projects to a state constitutional amendment election that already is scheduled for November, several officials have said.
   However, if commissioners sold certificates of obligation, it would only require that a public notice be published, Aguilera said. A petition to force a vote would require the signatures of 5 percent of the county's 188,804 registered voters, he said.
   County Commissioners need to work with the Corpus Christi City Council to secure funding for the JFK Causeway and other projects, Schwing said. The council on Tuesday will talk about borrowing $4 million from the state for its share of the causeway elevation and the Metropolitan Planning Organization has committed $4 million.
   Looking for options
   Two of the three Texas Transportation Commission members have promised that if local officials can come up with $12 million, they will funnel $33 million in state and federal funds to the project.
   Mayor Loyd Neal, who campaigned for the passage of the bond election, said he was open to suggestions on how the city and county could work together to keep the bond projects.
   "I'm supporting anything we can do together to keep from losing this funding," Neal said. "I think it's proper that we continue to look for options."
   McComb, a longtime supporter of Packery Channel, said he was interested in finding alternative funding for the projects.
   "The idea for Wednesday is to talk about all the possibilities, get all the tools out of the toolbox, put everything on the table and see what we've got," McComb said. "I'm willing to commit every bit of energy I have to make the projects happen.
   "The only thing I'm absolutely committed to is pursuing these projects to completion because they're all good projects," he said.
   Schwing said he wanted to make sure that federal officials know that Nueces County Commissioners are still trying to come up with matching funds for the projects.
   "The community hasn't given up on these," he said. "We want their continued support. It's pretty straightforward. Let's talk about alternatives."



Staff writer Jennifer Stump can be reached at 886-3778 or by e-mail at stumpj@caller.com. Staff writer James A. Suydam can be reached at 886-3618 or by e-mail at suydamj@caller.com.

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