Durham County plans to build a $102 million Human Services Complex and use certificates of participation to pay for it. The rationale:
While the county faces multimillion-dollar revenue shortfalls for the current fiscal year, the depressed economy affords a good opportunity for building, according to financial consultant Doug Carter. Contractors are hungry for business, and costs are down, Carter told the commissioners in January. At the same time, costs of borrowing money are very low.
OK, let’s apply this to personal finance. Say you’re mired in $100,000 in consumer credit card debt … but you keep receiving offers for more credit cards in the mail, and at low interest rates, what better time to add on more debt? You can’t afford to pass them up!
Such is the tortured logic of our bailout nation. Unlike personal finance, however, counties can afford to play fast and loose with taxpayers dollar since, apparently, voters have no intention of holding elected officials accountable.
