Refuse the Juice

Fat and Stupid is No Way to Go Through Life, Son

Who am I talking about?  The El Paso Times... again.  It seems the can't quite get their tiny little brains around this impact fee issue.  In an op-ed today they estimated that if the builders passes on the cost of the impact fee it would only cost $5.00 a month for the life of a mortgage. 

STUPID, STUPID, STUPID, STUPID, STUPID, STUPID, STUPID!

I can't say it enough.  Their complete lack of sense is astonishing.

First of all, their math is idiotic. They simply took the highest possible "hook up fee,"  which is $2000 and divided that by 30 years and then divided that by 12 and came up with 5.5.  So they even rounded down in order to misinform their readers.

Here's what they didn't take into account.

1. Interest

2. The mark up passed on to the consumer.  If builders make the industry standard 15 percent profit then you're talking at the minimum $2300 and that doesn't consider that many make twice that percentage in profit during the good times.

3. The builders have to pay the markup from the developer and the developer and builder are both covering interest on the loans they have to develop and build on the land.  The rule of the thumb in the industry is for every $1,000 increase in the initial lot price, the end consumer sees a $5,000 increase in the final home sale.  So we're talking $10,000 on top of the price, not $2,000.  That's why the builders are freaking out.  They have to try and sell a house at an increased cost of $10,000 smackaroos. 

It's a typical situation where the public is being lied to and I'm not sure if it's on purpose or just by ignorance.  

Here's some other statements in the article that flat out false:

"Nobody likes costs being passed on. But in this case it's good news for most. The impact fees on developers mean hundreds of thousands of El Pasoans get a fee break. Even if its $1 a month off the water bill, it adds up to a lot of money if you're, say, that person who has lived in Central for 25 years." 

Uh?  No.  Nowhere has anyone said that your water or sewer bill (one in the same basically) is going down because of this.  Show me where this has been promised?  This is a lie.  Your bill could actually go up! I'll get to that in a moment.

"Homeowners were the ones paying 100 percent of the $2,000 hookup fee per new home. In what it termed a compromise, Council has shifted 75 percent of that to the developer. And the developer will shift it to the person who buys the home or the commercial building."

What?  No!  Developers pay for 100 percent of the water and sewer pipe in a new subdivision plus the installation.  Here's how a new development works.

1. Developer pays an engineer to design a subdivision.

2. Developer PAYS THE PSB to design the sewer and water in that subdivision.  I repeat THE DEVELOPER PAYS THE PSB FOR THAT SERVICE AND HAS NO CHOICE IN THE MATTER.

3. The developer purchases every single piece of water and sewer pipe along with every fire hydrant and every individual hook up for each house.

4.  The developer pays a contractor to install all the water and sewer, street, gutter and sidewalk leaving the sewer and water lines stubbed out behind the curb. The developer gets no money from the PSB to do this.

5.  When a home builder buys a lot HE CONNECTS THE NEW HOUSE TO THE STUBBED OUT WATER AND SEWER AT HIS COST.

The only thing rate payers pay for is the inspection by the PSB and that runs about half of what the developer paid to have the PSB design the water and sewer in the first place.

The impact fees are to be used to build improvements that wouldn't be needed if the new subdivision wasn't there.  We're talking about sewage treatment plants ($10 million minimum), water storage (a few million for the smallest), larger main lines (water and sewer) as well as other improvements needed to adequately serve the new community.

Most of these improvements are already being put on the developers to build in exchange for the permission to do the projects.  Many developers have built at their own cost these improvements in order to speed along the process of development. Remember, if a new development needs a water storage unit, the developer has to wait until the PSB gets good and God damned ready to put it in. It could be years before the get to it.  So the developer builds it at his cost and HANDS IT OVER TO THE PSB AT NO COST TO THE RATE PAYERS.  Sometimes, in rare events, the PSB pays the developer back a small portion of the improvement - rarely.

There's no way new developments at even the highest hook up cost will cover the improvements needed.  It would take 5,000 new homes to cover one sewage treatment plant.  That amount of homes would need millions of other service upgrades that won't even be paid for. 

Here's the kicker.  By state law, if the PSB doesn't use the impact fees within ten years to build improvements for that subdivision - THE DEVELOPER GETS EVERY DIME BACK PLUS INTEREST!  This means that most of the money will be given back if they can't RAISE YOUR RATES TO PAY FOR IMPROVEMENTS!  Remember, the fees themselves come woefully short in paying for improvements and the rate payers are the ones who will pick up the cost.

All that is actually happening here is increased cost of housing in El Paso.  Nothing else will change. Maybe more development in New Mexico, that's about it. 

Spicing up Transportation Talk

I hate transportation crap. It's all bullshit.  Representative Pickett now chairs the House Transportation Committee which is like being named captain of a row boat.  A lot of good his position has done us.  His promotion to God of Texas Transportation (who wants that job?) has only produced a bunch of press releases that serve as great sleep inducers for all of you insomniacs out there.

Today NPT has Pickett's latest "I'm the man!"  press release.  You can find it HERE.  Or you can just read my critique of every paragraph below.

His comments are in black and mine are in Blue:

The amendment I placed on the TxDOT sunset bill would allow, at the City of El Paso's option, this is important enough to repeat, at the City's option, the ability to replace a politically appointed board that oversees the Regional Mobility Authority, RMA, with the City Council. The Mayor would be the Chair. This is the same situation as Sun Metro. The City Council is the board over transit. With the close association with the transit initiatives, bus rapid transit, possible rail and the $1 billion dollar mobility plan we have adopted, we should look at all being in one place.

Look!  It's a bird! It's a plane!  No it's... the world's worst constructed sentence! I'd really like to dive deep into the plethora of legislative and operational options for the RMA here, but I'm stuck on the fact that the God of Texas Transportation offsets acronyms with commas instead of parenthesis.  This guy is in charge directing traffic on Texas highways and he can't even keep his sentences between the lines.

Contrary to the "sky is falling,” the mantra TxDOT uses daily, our mobility plan is not in danger. I not only have embraced the plan, the priority selection of projects and the ultimate adoption of the plan, including tolled managed lanes came from my recommendations and work with our local Transportation Policy Board. There is absolutely nothing proposed to dissolve what the RMA does.

Dude... again your sentence structure is that of a guy who's going to blow a .35 when they get him down to the police station.  Short and choppy gets the job done, Hemingway.  As for your embracing of anything - gross.  I don't watch Bob Ross for a reason and I sure as hell don't want a hug from his look alike (you).  (Don't know who Bob Ross is?  Click HERE.)  Did you mention tolled lanes?  Yeah, that's going to go over in El Paso like a $15 taco.  

While we have the topic open, let’s talk about the positives that are a reality:

Oh shit, here comes the rare occurrence where a local politicians takes credit for everything but the invention of the ShamWow.  Roll your pants up, quickly.

We have been awarded $96 million dollars to start the needed direct connects of Loop 375 on the East Side to Interstate Highway 10. This is being developed with the RMA and I support that.

I've heard this about a million times.  Good thing we suffer from battered wife syndrome and believe you every time you tell us things are going to get better.  You'll have to call me when the money actually gets here.  I'll be on the lost island of Atlantis riding Unicorns with Santa Claus, so you might have to text me.

We just announced the first project in all of Texas under the stimulus program, improvements to the Border Highway.

Do you have a mouse in your pocket?  The nine drivers who use the Border Highway thank you. 

We have a sunset bill that would give more power to our community deciding our priorities and set up regional funding allocation. I only hope this most important part of the Sunset bill doesn’t die in the Senate, as most of the important issues regarding our community do. I guess the cry of “fair share” has died out by those who do not care as they used too.

Thanks for reporting shit that isn't going to happen.  That's like telling a starving man that you'd give him a cheeseburger if you only had one and then expect him to lament your charity.  Realize that our legislation dies because you are part of a team of egomaniacs that everybody else in the state hates.

We have the first Transportation Investment Zone created in the State of Texas; this was a bill I passed last session and have more improvements to it as well, that will give our community even more flexibility.

Oh, I get it.  This passed two years ago and we have yet to see the fruits of your labor.  That's a confidence building little admission by you.  That's like saying, "remember that stuff I promised I'd bring you last year?  Yeah, maybe next year."  And again, the sentence structure is a train wreck, hit by a tornado and then burned by a exploding volcano.  Did you get your degree at the same place Norma Chavez did?

The Council members alone can decide whether or not they become the board of the RMA. All of the House delegation, including myself, are working hard to support our community. The City was given misinformation

How about a turn signal before you head back to a paragraph you left three miles back?  What information was the city given?  You just told us that our legislation always dies because everybody hates us, but then you tell us now that the House delegation is working hard to support our community.  WHAT ARE YOU ON?  If they've been "supporting us" then tell them to stop because it's not helping.

Tuesday, in the Committee I chair, we passed out a monumental initiative that would allow a local community like El Paso to have a local referendum to decide on whether or not we would elect to raise the gas tax 10 cents a gallon for our region for those projects we deem important and have no funding available from the state. This is not going to be an easy one to pass on the House floor, but the fact we might have an opportunity is a big deal.

You chair a randomly capitalized Committee? No way!  You haven't mentioned that once!  You're so humble you could be a candidate for the Terrell Owens award this year.  Again, you're telling us about something you are going to fail to pass.  Don't tell us what you can't do, tell us what you can do.  However, I hope you don't give anyone the option to raise our regional gas tax by 10 cents a gallon.  I also hope you don't give toddlers knives, old people corvettes or menopausal women guns.  Some things are just bad ideas. 

 

Getting it Wrong Over and Over Again

I'm trying to be a little tolerant of the EP Times right now because I'm out a publisher for my local articles, but it's just too hard.  I have to drop the bowling ball on their foot again.

In yesterday's report on the impact fees issue and in today's op-ed on the same subject they confuse developers with builders.  This is like confusing baseball players and computer nerds.  They are very different groups of people.

It should be noted that Newspaper Tree accurately reported the groups involved. 

There were no developers at the mic during that meeting.  They can not afford to piss off council.  They rely on the city to approve their plans and stand to lose millions if they fight publicly with the city.  A couple of grand per lot is not worth having your new development pigeon holed to the tune of a million bucks. 

The builders, however, are pissed because they now have to pay the increased cost per lot because the developers are going to pass that on to them.  When margins are tight, $1,500 becomes a make or break deal.  Builders have no problem (obviously) going toe to toe with the city. It's a lot harder to kill their construction projects legally. 

It does not matter what side you are on.  Most of you reading this don't know what the impact is and have no idea what the requirements were before.  Explaining this to you would be a waste of time. What's done is done.  There will be an impact on El Paso and it will be negative, it just won't be seen for a few years.  This does open up local government to charging single neighborhoods fees for upgrading their existing sewer and water systems.   Yes, while they smacked the builders around, it's also an gateway to smacking you around.  Can you imagine being handed a bill for the regular maintenance of your water and sewer system?  Get ready.

The bottom line here is that the Times has not done its homework and refuses to do it.  You can not trust their work because of the glaring inaccuracies.  And believe me, there's a big difference between the two groups and anybody who tells you different is wrong.  Anybody who says, "well, you know what I mean - close enough for government work" is selling you down the river.  Saying that is like saying "he's a Dallas Cowboy wide receiver" when he's actually just a fan throwing the ball around in the parking lot before a game. 

One more item - when people identify themselves as representing the "Home Builders,"  on might get the hint that they aren't developers.... Just saying.

The View from the Outfield is Always Different

This will be the most important thing you read all day.  Take away from it exactly what it tells you. Do not analyze what can not be analyzed.  It's an observation of tremendous importance.

Remember - Hitler was angry.  His followers were angry.  That anger lead to action.  We know what happened from there.

http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/05/letter_of_amends_from_a_recove.html

Be Careful What Favors You do for Family Members

Let's just say there's a family out there with a name that rhymes with Bodauto.  Let's say we are dealing with two certain Bodautos.  One we'll call "X Bodauto" and the other "Y Bodauto."

X Bodauto doesn't like David K because David K smacked him on the nose with the newspaper over his political screw ups.  X Bodauto tries to call David K's father to get him fired.  David K's dad refuses to take calls from persons known to be the errand boy for those known as "coconspirators." X Bodauto also doesn't realize his phone calls are always conference calls even when they aren't mean to be (read: the FBI is listening - stop breaking the law whenever you feel you need to).

X Bodauto figures our David K's wife works at a place where Y Bodauto is a big wig.  X Bodauto realizes that he can get to David K through his wife and asks that Y Bodauto execute his plan.  The plan here being to teach David K a lesson for being on the wrong side of an issue.

Y Bodauto sees that David K's wife is let go rather unceremoniously and without warning.  Y Bodauto forgets to document why and leaves the situation smelling fishy considering there's zero cause for this action documented in David K's wife's file. 

It took David K a little bit to figure it out, but he did.

The problem for the Bodautos is that one of them may have a secret that is not so secret to everyone.  David K knows the secret and if things aren't made right soon, the one and only person who must never learn the secret, will learn the secret.

All anyone has to do is call David K's wife and explain to her exactly what happened.  Nobody has to give her a job or money - just an honest explanation.  Let her know that not only did she not do anything wrong, it was just plain old dirty politics as usual in El Paso and she's was simply a victim of that.

And yes, there is proof if that's your question.

A Note on Mortgages and Ants

When my wife and I purchased our house we went through Bank of the West to get our mortgage.  The process was easy, straightforward and I talked to a human every time I called.  This was done by design on my part.

After banking with Bank of America in DC for years I was tired of the bureaucracy and lack of customer support.  In fact I was once told that they'd be happy to loan me $25,000 if I'd only put down $20,000 of my own cash.  Nobody in that branch could fathom why I was laughing so hard that day. 

Anywho, back at the ranch.

So I was determined to get back to local service from local people when I suggested to my wife we bank with Bank of the West.  When it was time to get approved for a mortgage they did not disappoint.  Good for me, right?

Wrong.  As happens with all mortgages, they get sold off to other companies.  Chase now holds my mortgage. 

I now have no option of speaking with someone on the phone about me giving them money.  You have to be able to trick the system into sending you to an actual person.  When you get to that person they're in another country and you have to be very careful how you speak.  They aren't up on any kind of American slang at all.  To top it off, I have major hearing damage and basically can't hear the tone of voice the entire population of Eastern Asian speaks in.  Guess where the person I was talking to was from? Exactly.

This person can't understand me and I can't understand them.  I can't even just write my thoughts on a piece of paper and slide it over to them.  I can't make wild hand gestures.  I can't communicate with them and pissed me off.

I wish my mortgage was still owned by Bank of the West.  I could drive over there and talk to someone!  A real person!  My frustration level would be at zero and the world would be a better place.

Instead, I'm stuck with a mega-bank because that's how the system works.  I'm just another ant in a very big colony.

Which brings me to big government.   I hate the notion that we are in the same boat with our government and it's only getting worse.  I ordered my new driver's license from the State of Texas nearly a month ago.  I still have not received it and nobody can figure out why.  Again, I'm just another ant lost in the system.  

We weren't supposed to be treated this way. 

I wish we could do something about it.

Congrats Rep. Acosta - Now Time to Move On

Acosta won... She beat what is likely the biggest joke to hold office in the history of the United States. 

Here's the deal -

We know she didn't live in her district the first time she ran and we know she probably doesn't live there now.  She makes close to $100,000 a year in retirement money and I don't think anyone believes she is living in her district when she can afford the trendier parts of town.  Any claim she makes to the contrary will now be met with intelligent inquiry.  After all, we're a little better at this than Lozano is.

My suggestion to her is to step down here in a bit and let someone from the district serve.  Somebody less passionate about being an obstructionist and score settler during budget sessions and more interested in the best ideas for that district.

If she does not disappear there will be a tough road ahead of her.  We're going to learn a lot about her history with the city and why a few of her former friends are in federal prison today. 

If she's smart she'll take the money and run.