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CardinalBacker

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Everything posted by CardinalBacker

  1. Check out the video that I posted where the suspect attacked with a collapsible baton. Cops aren't being paid to take a whuppin'.
  2. I honestly think hanging out with Biden would be a blast... don't agree with his political leanings, though. The point is the guy has a well documented history of being ALL OVER the ladies.... will the media and the Dems give him pass? This is from Gawker from 2015... not a conservative source. [Hidden Content]
  3. I'm just surprised they didn't hire Peter Griffin.
  4. Okay.... this might be hard to watch, but if nothing else, maybe this can help a few people understand why police officers end up shooting people before they might need to. The action really gets rolling at about 3 minutes in.
  5. Yeah.... that’s what I thought, too.
  6. “I’m forgoing my final year of high school eligibility...”
  7. I made a mistake and what I said was incorrect in that it applies to all of the other taxing entities except school districts..... I'm deleting that post.
  8. I made a mistake and what I said was incorrect in that it applies to all of the other taxing entities except school districts..... I'm deleting that post.
  9. Here's the rub... Beaumont ISD had a monster bond at $389 million. This one is for ONLY $156 milly. When you look at it in relative terms, There are are 117,000 people in Beaumont. If you take the 389 million price and divide it by the number of citizens of Beaumont (not even including the people outside of the city limits) you end up with a price per citizen of $3,324 per person. Nederland on the other hand has 17,000 residents AND is asking for 156 million. It's more like $9,176 per person. In plain English, if Beaumont's bond issue (already considered massive) compared to Nederland's on a cost per citizen basis, it would have been more like 1.2 billion dollars. When you consider how how much bigger Beaumont's tax base is (refineries, commerical, industrial, retail, maritime, etc...) you can see how bad the property owners in a bedroom community like Nederland are about to get smacked. Call it for what it is... there are some Bulldog faithful who are tired of getting shown up by the facilities on the other side of town, and they're willing to spend however many of their neighbors dollars to fix the situation. The one thing nobody is mentioning is that Nederland isn't growing... It's a completely different ballgame when your a Magnolia or Tomball and your population is exploding. Big Ned isn't getting any larger.
  10. Not really wanting to beat a dead horse, but my truck is paid for. Has 200k thousand miles on it now. I should probably be on the lookout for a replacement. For some people, that means picking up a used rig with some miles. For others it means going to the note lot and getting a beater. Some others might even head down and pick up a new truck. Just because I say "Whoa, I really don't need that new 2019 King Ranch F350 Crew Cab 4x4 with the dealer installed lift kit, wheels/tires, custom paint and 3 TVs" doesn't mean I'm against replacing my old truck. I just think $90k is a lot of money for a new truck. Or $156 million for a bond package in a town of 17,000 is a little crazy.
  11. No, I also think that the awards have lost some prestige. I don't think it's because of a particularly dry talent pool this year, because that's just not the case.
  12. You can toss Beaumont and PA out of the mix because they’ll pass anything. Fun fact... Port Arthur ISD has the highest per student spending in the state. Higher than Allen, Katy, and everybody else. Hasnt really helped graduation rates or property values, has it? I don’t think anybody is saying Nederland doesn’t need anything. I believe a bond is in order... it’s the price tag that is freaking people out. It just seems out of line for a town of this size.
  13. It's 156 million dollars additional tax dollars that will actually be collected from the citizens and businesses there in Nederland.... A fraction of that revenue will be funneled back into the local economy by wages earned by local workers (assuming that some of them are actually hired to work on the construction) and if any materials/contractors are acquired from Nederland sources. Otherwise, it's just $156 million being sucked out of the local economy. The idea that the money will stay in Nederland is laughable at best. I just don't think Setzer's is gonna be able to fill that order.
  14. Beaumont ISD’s last one was $389 million. The diff is that their population is 117,000, not 17,000 like Nederland. So in hard dollars, no. In cost per resident, it’s about 5x larger than BISD’s last one. Or only $30/month, depending on who’s coming up with the statistics.
  15. I think my problem is this... These bonds get so inflated... they become a "wish list" like most government projects. "It's only $30/month... small price for the kids, right?" Cowboys Stadium had a total construction cost of 1.2 billion and I'm pretty sure you can see the thing from 15 miles away, if not outer space. What is Nederland really getting for $156 milly? I'm just saying that it's a vicious circle of administrators who want to build monuments to themselves, portions of the communities that lick their chops at the idea of getting into their better-off neighbors' pockets again, Designers and builders who are dealing with administrators who are usually not equipped to oversee the scope of this type of project, and ultimately a taxpaying population that is given a take-it-or-leave-it proposition. Beaumont ponied up 300 million for their bond issue and still have kids in portable buildings and if I'm not mistaken, need another one for the construction of the new B-Unit. I mean... how important does that natatorium sound these days? My guess is that IF a local business wanted to do a project of this scale, it would be done for a fraction of the cost that is being floated here.
  16. I guess you haven’t priced mid county real estate lately, but you can pretty much double that figure up to 200k. Taxes on commercial property (which is taxed higher) will go up, too. So unless you’re Section 8, your rent is gonna go up, too. But what’s an extra $100 here or there? All of the local businesses that you visit will be passing their increased costs on to you the consumer as well. I’d say the typical Nederlanderthal can expect his/her actual costs to run a little closer to $1500/year. The bug man on Spurlock? He’s paying higher taxes on his home, his business property, his business personal property, and all of his work trucks. His costs are for the new bond issue are probably going to be 25x what you’re predicting. The good news is that he can pass a lot of costs on to his customers. So your $50/bug treatment is now a $60 bug treatment. Same for every other local business that you visit. You will pay more for every margarita, every tank of gasoline, and every grocery that you buy in town. So $30/month is by no means reflective of the true cost of the bond issue.
  17. It’s a shame.. this happens so often that it makes rational people skeptical when attacks actually occur. Every time that bi-racial couple gets “n-word go home” and “kkk” painted on the garage door of their suburban home I assume they did it themselves for attention. I’m not sure which is worse... that I think that way or that I’m usually right? Way to go Empire guy...
  18. Mrs Dauphin crossed the River Jordan to sing with the angels before she scratched that check. The guy who took (care of) her money isn’t a football fan, so.....
  19. A lot of times those projects create competitive advantages within a community. Let’s say you own a tire shop... one of a few in town. One of your competitors is awarded funds from the EDC to build a new shop for the betterment of the community. Now your tax dollars have gone to improve your competitors business.... and coincidentally your customers are heading over there, too, because his new (free to him) shop is so much nicer than yours. Same thing in Beaumont when they were promoting tax abatements and if I’m not mistaken, something similar to an abatement for occupancy taxes if someone was willing to build a hotel out near Ford Park. If I already owned a motel in town I’d be pissed. How nice is it to watch your former guests stay at a place that you were subsidizing?
  20. It’s a different mindset I guess. I’m a little more pro-business than you are in some ways. I don’t think that abatements are some divine thing, but I’d rather hold my nose and see more jobs and future tax revenue than stand on my principals and deteriorate while some neighboring community flourishes instead. I’m not sure that I’m familiar with that one. Is that the EDC tax? I’m largely opposed to those taxes and entities because they never seem to actually benefit anybody other than those who work for the EDC and those that seem to randomly receive funds from them. But that’s just me.
  21. You're entitled to your opinion, but in this case you're wrong. That place is still on the tax roll up there in Silsbee. LP paid just over $180k in property taxes on land and equipment for 2018 alone. Property tax abatements can be a fantastic blessing. Nobody remembers when they moved the Walmart in Groves and the Nederland Walmart about 15 years ago... both went into Port Arthur City Limits when they rebuilt because PAT was willing to play ball with property tax abatements. Nederland and Groves got to keep their property taxes for future years on the old years, but PAT abated property taxes and gained 100% of the sales tax revenue generated by two super Walmarts. Advantage PA, especially when the abatement period ends. And by my math, it probably already has. Sometimes people (like AOC in this case) get a little caught up in their beliefs and lose sight of the big picture. 25k good paying jobs, plus who knows how many more supporting jobs in the community, and she celebrates killing the project because of inherent corporate greed? Some other place will happily step up and accept Amazon coming to town, and the locals in her district can stagnate.
  22. We wouldn't have a problem with that. #wesoft
  23. That’s the kid... I hate to hear that it didn’t work out for him. Not surprising, but still disappointing.
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