The COA really can make this a great city if we stopped catering to tech
companies and other for-profits by giving them subsidies. I know everyone
loves soccer, but the Precourt Soccer deal will cost Austin $400 million
dollars over a 25 year period. Austin is STILL in the running for Amazon. I
know that our Mayor has said that no deals will be made with Amazon, but
then why are we NUMBER 3 on Amazon’s list? What deals are being
made in the Austin Chamber of Commerce? We need more transparency.
Dr. Jenson, an economics Professor at U.T. wrote a book about how
subsidies only help politicians because it gives politicians a way to brag
about how many jobs they’ve created. Another problem is accountability. I
support everything in the bond package, but just like every other voter who
has passed bond after bond, people want to start seeing improvements.
The city would rather raise the cap on property taxes and give tax breaks to
for-profits. People are tired of paying and I fear that this bond will not pass
because of how the city has treated the residents and their money. I
support this bond, but we need to stop subsidizing for-profits and we need
to stop raising property taxes.