County Orders Bond Election
On June 12, the Glasscock County Commissioners’ Court ordered a bond election to determine whether a facility to house a community center, agricultural extension offices, and a livestock show barn is built in Garden City. Voters in the Aug. 12 election will be asked to vote for or against the county issuing $825,000 in general obligation bonds. (See separate article for specific language of the proposition and the election ballot.)
The county court will set the specific rate for the bond tax, the percentage of interest to be paid on the bonds and their duration when and if voters approve the bond issuance.
The estimated construction cost for the building is $685,000, plus a 10 percent contingency of $68,500 and a 7.5 percent architect’s fee of $56,500, for a total construction cost of $810,000. Southwest Securities of Dallas will prepare for the bond election and issue the bonds. Their costs, payable only if the bond issue passes, are $36,000, making the total project cost $846,000.
The difference of $21,000 between the bond revenue and actual costs is to be provided by interest on the $825,000 during time of construction.
With the proposed building site located immediately east of the courthouse on land provided by the county, architects have planned the 220 x 80 ft. metal building to have some exterior limestone trim to blend with buildings on the courthouse square.
Planned offices, meeting rooms and a kitchen occupy 4,800 sq. ft. and are estimated at $72 per sq. ft. A community room, which can also be used as a livestock show ring, is 6,400 sq. ft. at $32 per sq. ft., and a livestock holding area is 6,400 sq. ft. at $17 per sq. ft. Costs for land, paving, curbing and dirt work, all to be provided by the county, are not included in construction costs.
By comparison, the size of the school cafeteria’s seating area is about 3,300 sq. ft., while the planned community room/livestock show area has approximately 4,600 sq. ft. of seating area.
Fundraising Efforts Inadequate
At a May 22 meeting of the commissioners’ court, Charles Zachry, representing the community center building committee, had asked the court to call such a bond election to let the voters decide whether the facility will be built. He said ten years of fund raising and attempts to secure grants have not produced the results necessary for a building, and said the committee feels all options other than a bond election have been exhausted. Zachry said the $36,000 raised over the years would be used for interior furnishings, or equipment as needed in the building.
The building committee estimates that, using the county’s current taxable value of $252 million, an annual bond tax of 5 cents per $100 valuation would raise approximately $125,000 per year for debt service. At that rate, the bonds could be paid off in seven years. The same 5-cent rate and a higher valuation would bring in more money per year. The committee pointed out that their projections are based on the current tax value, which is the lowest in ten years. The five-year average valuation is $313 million and the ten-year average valuation is $324 million. The county’s actual tax valuation for the coming fiscal year will not be available until July.
Money raised by the bond tax could be used only to pay the bond debt, and when the bond is paid off, the bond tax would stop.
The committee’s estimates of how a 5-cent bond tax would affect local real estate taxes: on a section of pastureland with a tax value of $6,400, the bond tax would be approximately $3.20 annually; a section of dry land crop with a tax value of $31,360 would have a bond tax of about $15.68; for a section of irrigated cropland with a tax value of $38,400, the tax would be about $19.20, and on a home with an appraisal value of $50,000 (county average is $43,940), the annual bond tax would be about $25.
Figures provided by the committee indicate that real estate provided approximately 8 percent of the county’s tax monies in 1998 and 11 percent in 1999. Taxes on minerals brought in 76 percent of the taxes in 1998 and 66 percent in 1999. Industrial taxes paid 16 percent of the total in 1998 and 23 percent in 1999.
The building committee said it plans town meetings prior to the bond election, so that voters’ questions can be answered. Architectural drawings of the proposed building may be picked up now in the courthouse hallway.
Early voting will be July 26 - Aug. 8 for the Aug. 12 election. Applications for mail-in ballots must be received on or before Aug. 4. Those who want to vote by mail should request applications for ballots now, due to the time required for mailing the various items back and forth. Mail-in ballots must be in on or before Aug. 12.