It is a responsibility of government to provide thorough, responsible and balanced information to the electorate when asking it to vote on a bond proposal. In describing the increase in property taxes resulting from a "yes" vote, usually the only information the voters become aware of is the yearly, or worse, the monthly, increase for a typical home or commercial property.
Let's consider as an example that if a bond were to pass, owners of homes valued at $200,000 would pay $10 per month more in property taxes. Sometimes an annual amount is seen, which would be $120 in this case. But I have never seen it mentioned that if it is a 15-year bond, total payments from this homeowner will be $1,800! Even a present-value calculation using a reasonable rate of return would result in a cost to the homeowner of more than $1,000.
Responsible government must insist on disclosure of the total amount a given taxpayer will pay alongside any other disclosure, such as the monthly or annual cost. The minimizing of such disclosures by the private sector is one reason why we have such a dangerously low savings rate in America, and too many people getting too deeply in debt.
Renters are more likely to vote "yes" on bond issues, because often they do not realize that property tax increases eventually get passed on to them through rent increases. They should always be informed of this.
We need to make sure from an economic development standpoint that the property tax burden for commercial properties does not get much higher than it is in most other areas, or we will lose businesses and jobs over time.
It is important that cost estimates for bond issues are reviewed very carefully by someone who had no role in developing them and has no vested interest in the project. The Leonardo project must have had some bad estimates from the start. Costs have risen a lot since the bond was approved, but not by 65 percent! They must get it right this time. This is even more important for the proposed bonding for public safety, costing more than $190 million.
Finally, we must be economical in the design of public buildings and in the execution of their construction. I do not mean by this that we should not beautify projects like the new library that are used daily by the citizens in great numbers. But using Discovery Gateway (the children's museum and Junior Achievement collaboration) as an example, continuing oversight and prodding by business leaders on their board has resulted in the project coming in at least $3 million under budget.
David B. Winder of Salt Lake City is director and adviser to a number of business and community organizations, including Discovery Gateway. Former executive director of the Utah Department of Community and Economic Development, Winder was a special assistant to former Utah Govs. Mike Leavitt and Olene Walker for post-Olympic projects.