As you can probably imagine, I don’t like the latest aquatic center idea being floated by some Greensboro City Council members.
The way I see it, even if the $6.8 million shortfall is voted down in a bond referendum, that still leaves Matt Brown, Robbie Perkins and Zack Matheny with $12 million to play with, and they’ll just keep looking for money. I’d much rather see the whole $18 million project on a bond referendum and let it get voted up or down. Perhaps there would actually be an honest discussion about this deal, not to mention some daylight on the goings on within the coliseum commission and the CVB.
Interesting comments below the N&R’s latest, including one from ‘Fact Checker,’ who, when arguing against another bond, says interest on certificates of participation “will only be borne by Greensboro’s taxpayers if the hotel tax can’t cover Aquatic Center deficits.”
Which is going to happen, given that the city is already covering hotel tax shortfalls.
Bonus observation: CVB president Henri Fourrier notes the economic impact of events at the Irwin Belk track, yet the hotel tax still needs bailing out. Something to think about when people say the aquatic center’s economic impact will pay off in the end.
Thursday a.m. update: Guarino says he “like(s) like the idea of the approximate $20 million bond to make voters fully aware of the magnitude of the project.” The $20 million figure comes from Tony Wilkins, who says that alternative might be proposed by the City Council.
