A Thinly Veiled Tax Increase

The proposed bond referendum is creative financing at its best. The currently proposed general obligation bond is nothing but a moral failure on the part of Roswell's City Council to reduce expenses. Candidly, this proposed bond referendum is a veiled attempt to increase taxes.

I believe that more transparency and honesty is in order by our council for citizens to make an informed decision and that is the purpose for the following:

First, citizens need to know that the city is currently paying down the balance of an existing bond, with an approximate remaining balance of some $18 million. This taxpayer liability is scheduled to be paid off in early 2015. 

The city currently pays $6.3 million annually in a debt service fee on the current $18 million bond balance. Roswell property owners are currently paying 1.396 mills in their property taxes to service that debt.

Well, the city plans on continuing to collect that $6.3 million instead of reducing your property taxes after the current bond is payed off. They will continue to collect that 1.396 mill portion of your property taxes and keep the $6.3 million to use as they see fit.

The currently proposed bond would be implemented in two increments of $12 million each, the first installment in 2013 for a period of 10 years and then in 2015 the other $12 million until 2030.

The city of Roswell is marketing this proposal from the standpoint that there will be "no increase in the current debt service millage rate."

Well, that statement is correct.

However, you will have to look at the fine print because what they are proposing appears to be a continuation, at a minimum, of the current total millage rate of 5.455 mills for 15 more years even after the scheduled retirement of the current bond in 2015.

The city will continue to take in an additional $6.3 million annually, even though the future debt service on the proposed $24 million bond will only be $2.5 million annually!!

As a matter of fact, a much smaller debt service millage rate will be used to service the proposed bond debt, precisely 0.560 mills, while the other 0.836 mills or some $3.8 million will in fact roll over into the General Operations Fund for Council to prop up a bloated operating budget in Roswell.

This is a well-guarded secret, but a matter of public record that must be exposed.

This link provides that reality. Click on "Council Budget Presentation January 23, 2012" at the bottom of the page and scroll to page 14 to see for yourself.