Wednesday, August 3, 2016

#ATXCoucil to rubber stamp $100 million+ in bonds/contracts tomorrow....


"There is desirable treasure,
And oil in the dwelling of the wise,
But a foolish man squanders it."
Proverbs 21:20

[Note on methodology: On several of the contracts, there were either a range of potential costs or options for renewal that could add more.  In each case where it was relevant, we used the lowest possible number for each item.  Thus, this is a low ball estimate.]

The "consent agenda" is a tool governmental bodies use to approve non-controversial items in a timely manner.  While it absolutely has a purpose, it is also subject to abuse.  We bring this up because we just took a look at the consent agenda for tomorrow's council meeting.

We don't know enough to have any specific comment on any specific contract, but the sheer magnitude is staggering.

  • Total items on consent agenda: 65
  • Total items on consent agenda related to contracts: 28
  • Lowball estimate of the financial cost of said contracts; $96,282,616
  • Total items on consent agenda related to bonds: 5
  • Financial cost of said bonds: $42,000,000
  • Lowball estimate of contracts plus bonds: $138,282,616
That's an awful lot of money for a 'consent' agenda.

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