CERTIFICATES OF OBLIGATION
"Special interests in this town are frothing at the mouth to go back to issuing COs."
Brian Kennedy
You don't get to vote on Certificates of Obligation.
You just get to pay the bill.
Certificates of Obligation are non-voter approved debt typically issued for infrastructure, streets or parks but they came to be a go-to-source for pork and whimsy. CO's are insult to injury. They don't ask for your approval. They just ask for your money.
The City of El Paso is $1.7 billion dollars in debt from General Obligation and Certificates of Obligation plus some other stuff like tax bonds, revenue bonds and "Special Revenue Bonds" for the ballpark. *FY2023 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report
Increased debt = even higher taxes. El Paso already has the third highest property tax rate of the fifty largest cities in America.
So who is at the table? People weighing in on behalf of your interests? Or special interests?
THE GOOD NEWS
The City of El Paso issued no new Certificates of Obligation in Fiscal Year 2023 or Fiscal Year 2024!
That's why it's important to have someone at the table that's committed to growth, understands compromise, looks for creative solutions and NEVER FORGETS they are there to represent your interest.
