Why I voted against the Soccer Megaplex proposed for Woodsom Farm:
(originally posted on AmesburyIssues.org May 11, 2000)
 
I voted NO because bonding $1.5 million dollars on athletic fields is a lot of money. The annualized payments for this debt will be close to $200,000 dollars a year and will not go below $100,000 a year until 2017. (Fields are being planned in other local communities. Their TOTAL project costs, including land acquisition, are about the same amount of money as what we will be spending for just one or two years' worth of bond payments.)

I have heard overwhelmingly from residents that, as a Town, we are spending too much money. Elderly, retirees and residents on fixed incomes have asked to vote no against additional spending. I have also been hearing from soccer parents, as well as other residents, that they would rather see the money spent on other more pressing needs -- like roads and teacher aides salaries. In addition, I had a resident contact me this weekend and tell me that they were going to sell their home and move out of town rather than continue paying the high taxes in Amesbury.

I believe that the Woodsom Farm Committee failed in its charge to seek out alternative funding options. They took the "easy route" and chose to burden the taxpayers rather than seeking alternatives. I have been provided with information that contradicts what the Committee told the Council about the availability of grants for multi-purpose recreational fields, as well as whether or not they were pursuing options with the state.

Finally, last week I was contacted by the Chairman of the Committee seeking additional information about the tasks voted by the Municipal Council eight months ago. It appears that after eight months, the Committee has decided to look at the Council's vote, and now they have questions on about half the items. I guess I have to question what have they been doing for eight months, other than planning recreational fields? What happened to the preservation restriction for the South Side? What happened to the old Homestead purchase? I would not be surprised if, now that they have funding for the fields approved, some of the members now decide to leave the Committee. Or, perhaps the Committee feels its work is done, now that the Council has approved $1.5 million worth of bonds for recreational fields. I don't even know if the Committee is ever planning to meet again.

Below are two breakdowns of estimated annual debt payments for this project. The charts are based on industry benchmarks, as of May 8, 2000. The difference in the two charts is that the first assumes the bonds will be tax-exempt; the second assumes that their interest will be taxable. Taxable bonds, of course, carry a higher interest rate. Bond Counsel was not able to tell us, before last night's vote, whether the recreational fields bonds would be tax-exempt or taxable. Also, please note that the benchmark assumes a Moody's bond rating of AAA. Amesbury does not have a AAA rating -- we have an A3 rating, which is eight levels below AAA. The industry does not bother benchmarking A3 bonds.

-- Tom

Estimated Annual Debt Service on $1.5 million at 6.00% [6.00% is the Bloomberg/The Bond Market Association benchmark for AAA-rated, tax-exempt 20-year municipal bonds. Amesbury is rated A3 -- eight steps below AAA -- so the interest rate on bonds issued by the Town will be higher than the interest rate paid on bonds issued by AAA communities.] Total cost = $2,445,000.00

2002 $165,000.00
2003 $160,500.00
2004 $156,000.00
2005 $151,500.00
2006 $147,000.00
2007 $142,500.00
2008 $138,000.00
2009 $133,500.00
2010 $129,000.00
2011 $124,500.00
2012 $120,000.00
2013 $115,500.00
2014 $111,000.00
2015 $106,500.00
2016 $102,000.00
2017 $ 97,500.00
2018 $ 93,000.00
2019 $ 88,500.00
2020 $ 84,000.00
2021 $ 79,500.00

Estimated Annual Debt Service on $1.5 million at 8.70% [8.70% is the Bloomberg/The Bond Market Association benchmark for AAA-rated, non-tax-exempt 20-year municipal bonds. Amesbury is rated A3 -- eight steps below AAA -- so the interest rate on bonds issued by the Town will be higher than the interest rate paid on bonds issued by AAA communities.] Total cost = $2,870,250.00
2002 $205,500.00

2003 $198,975.00
2004 $192,450.00
2005 $185,925.00
2006 $179,400.00
2007 $172,875.00
2008 $166,350.00
2009 $159,825.00
2010 $153,300.00
2011 $146,775.00
2012 $140,250.00
2013 $133,725.00
2014 $127,200.00
2015 $120,675.00
2016 $114,150.00
2017 $107,625.00
2018 $101,100.00
2019 $ 94,575.00
2020 $ 88,050.00
2021 $ 81,525.00