The LEDC will meet Wednesday for their usual monthly meeting. They will be discussing the most inefficient way to incinerate millions of tax dollars with their “business” park project.
In honor of this, I want to summarize the big-ticket loans they have either taken out or are about to take out for this never-ending boondoggle.
Oct 2003 – LEDC purchases land for $909,000. To do this, they took out a loan from First State Bank of Central Texas for $1.1 million for 15 years at 4.95% [see page 14]. If you use an amortization calculator, you see the total cost for the land was $1,560,000. That works out to approximately $9,500 per acre. Loan matured in November 2019.
March 2015 – LEDC takes out a loan for $1,345,000 for 15 years at 3.35%. The loan is written by First State Bank of Central Texas. This money was mainly wasted putting a bunch of pipes in the ground and running electricity to the site (roughly one million dollars). Loan is SUPPOSED to mature in March of 2030. Thanks to Misti Talbert and TJ Monroe [page 4, item VI], loan will be extended to March 2040 – costing the taxpayers an extra $207,000. TOTAL cost of this loan (principal and interest) $1,925,000.
Spring 2021 – LEDC fails to pull off their Covid money scam. Local scumbag Mike Cour turns out to NOT actually be a viable tenant. In fact, he had his hand out for roughly $1.85 million from the taxpayers. Of course, Mandy Walsh, Misti Talbert, TJ Monroe and the rest of them were strung along and CONNED by this weasel for a YEAR before it all fell apart.
So NOW they have to do it the old-fashioned way – go to the banks and take out a loan. BancorpSouth [which acquired First State Bank of Central Texas at the end of 2019] has agreed to back the loan (but only if they agree to extend the $1.345 million loan for another TEN YEARS (see above).
The BancorpSouth loan is for $1,500,000 for 21 years at 3.2% (according to LEDC packets – pages 9 and 10). With interest added in, that will cost the taxpayers $2,061,000.00 after all finance charges. Oh, plus a $15,000 loan origination fee. Total of $2,076,000.
Add up all the loans, and you get $5,561,000 after financing charges.
Pope Eckermann himself pegged the cost of Phase II Phase I at around $1,900,000 back in early 2020. Given the inflation we have seen in the last 18 months, I highly doubt that figure is still valid. It will be at LEAST $2.2 million. Subtract out the $1.5 million borrowed, and the LEDC will be on the hook for another $700,000 if they are lucky.
New total? $6,261,000 if my estimates are correct and just under $6 million if The Pope’s numbers from early 2020 are still valid.
That works out to roughly $37,000 per acre.
Number of tenants recruited for the “business park” since 2004: 0
Number of jobs created: 0