Travis Republicans come out strong against bond debt

The Travis County Republican Party voted unanimously to oppose a new civil courthouse bond Wednesday evening (Oct. 14), citing tax concerns and access as their reasons to be firmly against.

The county party received immediate media attention when it joined Travis County Taxpayers Union as the primary forces dedicated to stopping the $287 million bond proposal dead in its tracks. The gauntlet has been thrown.

We include the full text of the resolution -- including a related resolution opposing an opulent dog shelter bond proposal in Pflugerville, below (even the Mayor thinks its extravagant, at nearly $1,000 per animal).

But now is YOUR chance to weigh in on the new civil courthouse proposal. Look to the left-hand side of this screen and take our poll.

Early voting runs from Monday, Oct. 19-30, with election day on Nov. 3. 

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Resolution in Opposition of 2016 Travis County Courthouse Bond

Whereas the $287 million Bond election for the proposed new downtown civil courthouse on the November 3rd, 2015 ballot, is in addition to the $22 million of non-voter approved debt used to acquire the downtown courthouse property site, and;

Whereas, the most recent courthouse site selection analysis was performed in 1999-2001 by a committee consisting of Travis County and other government employees (Sheriff, Dist. Att'y, Co. purchasing agent, Dist. Judge, Co. Att'y, tax assessor, exec. mgrs. of other county agencies), and A Guiding Principal of the Travis County Central Campus Study initiated in 2010 was to keep the facilities downtown, meaning no other locations were considered or evaluated, and;

Whereas, over 1,000 daily individual visits are now made to the current courthouse facility, not including 275 employees or an unspecified number of credentialed (frequent user) attorneys, with all three numbers forecast to rise, while only 500 combined parking spaces are pledged, and crucial parking demand is not part of the estimated project cost, and;

Whereas, Travis County is $695 million in debt with another $91 million of additional debt issuance already planned for 2016, and;

Whereas, the additional $287 million courthouse debt proposal is less than one-fourth of the eventual $1.2 Billion need identified by the Central Campus Study within 25 years, meaning a projected need of at least two additional rounds of similar magnitude of debt issuance during the life of the currently proposed (20-year) bonds, and;

Whereas Travis County and Austin taxpayers already suffer the highest taxes and fees of any major metro area in Texas, and;

Whereas Travis County and Austin residents have some of the highest electric (PEC and Austin Energy) and water bills of any major metro area in Texas, and;

Whereas the new $287 million of Bond debt would cause an increase of at least $13 per year for the 'average' property owner and an unknown increase to the 'average' renter, and;

Whereas real estate experts predict that the proposed downtown courthouse property could be sold for at least $30 million, and could provide desperately needed downtown residences remitting at least $120 million in new tax levy over the next 20 years, and;

Whereas developers predict that a low rise civil courthouse project in non-congested east Austin could provide many acres of free surface parking and construction costs 25% to 50% lower than the downtown project, and;

Whereas at least three Austin City Council members (Houston, Troxclair, Zimmerman) have supported a Resolution asking the Austin City Manager to cooperate with Travis County on locating government owned land in east Austin suitable for the new civil courthouse, and could possibly include a combined city/county justice center, and;

Whereas Travis County has indicated they will not consider alternatives to the current plan unless the Bond is defeated, then,

BE IT RESOLVED that the Travis County Republican Party urges voters to vote AGAINST the Travis County civil courthouse Bond on the November 3rd, 2015 ballot.

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RESOLUTION AGAINST THE PFLUGERVILLE PROP 1 -- $10.7 MILLION ANIMAL SHELTER --BOND 

Whereas a $10.7 million dollar bond has been proposed in Pflugerville for a 28,800 SF animal shelter that will house less than 200 animals.

Whereas the debt service on the bond will be $653,460 per year.

Whereas this will be the second most expensive government building in Pflugerville.

Whereas the taxpayers will be responsible for a total cost of infrastructure over a 30-year period of 19.7 million dollars.

Whereas the expansion will require the addition of 16 new staff members.

Whereas this will increase the budget of a city with less than 53,000 people by 1 million dollars per year for 30 years.

Whereas the present Animal Shelter has been able to avoid euthanizing an animal for approximately the past 4 years due to a robust volunteer animal fostering program.

BE IT RESOLVED that the Travis County Republican Party urges voters to vote AGAINST Proposition 1 -- The Pflugerville Animal Shelter Bond -- on the November 3rd, 2015 ballot. ...