"It appears to us that the $30 million bond referendum for a downtown performing arts center is coming off the table.
At a news conference this afternoon, Walker Sanders, president of the Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro and a leader of the Performing Arts Center task force, said he would recommend to the city council that they consider other financing options.
"What we would suggest to the city is that there is a general sense that a single-focus $30 million bond is not the best way to fund a performing arts center," Sanders said.
When asked if a $30 million bond referendum could get voter approval in November, he said, "It would be difficult."
So does this mean the end for a downtown PAC? Not quite. In talking with Walker Sanders during the return bus ride from the visit to view the Durham Performing Arts Center it became apparent to me and others that Sanders wants Greensboro City Council to resort to COPs (Certificates of Participation) as a means to fund GPAC2012.
Unlike bonds, COPs do not require voter participation or approval. Nor would they require that taxes be raised to pay for the loans. Instead, the building itself would stand good for the loans in much the same way that your mortgage is guaranteed by your home. The problem with COPs is that they are risky and harder to sell to buyers who want cities to stand behind their debts. And defaulting on a COP would devastate any city's credit rating forcing the city to pay higher interest rates on everything they borrow for many years into the future.
And any politician who votes in favor of a failed COP will probably never again hold public office.
Continue reading article #108. Ticket Taxes Taxing Voters' Patience.
