Financing Plan Is Taxpayer Rip-Off

* Your report Wednesday on the Public Facilities Corp. authorizing the sale of certificates of participation is only partially correct.

First, the Public Facilities Corp. is not a county agency. The board of directors is not made up of elected officials nor appointed by elected officials, even though the original board was composed of members proposed by each county supervisor nearly 20 years ago. The PFC is a 501c private, nonprofit California corporation. The sole purpose of the PFC is to distance the county from the actual sale of bonds, which is illegal without voter approval.

The county instead arranges a complicated lease arrangement with the PFC. In doing so, the PFC is heavily advised by county counsel, financial records are kept by the auditor-controller, the construction of the projects is managed by public works officials and the legislative issues are worked out through the chief administrative officer’s office. This is all done to make it legally appear that the county is leasing the proposed facility, not purchasing it.

What actually happened Tuesday was that the PFC agreed to participate in the bond sale by fronting the county in the sale, thus avoiding asking the voters to approve issuing bonds as would be required by law.

I have long opposed this type of deceptive and expensive method of financing. At least two Ventura County grand juries have agreed, as has a report from the state Debt Advisory Commission. Bypassing the voters in this manner was, is and will be a display of taxpayer abuse without democratic safeguards.

KEN CHAPMAN

Santa Paula

* Congratulations, Ventura County taxpayers! The Board of Supervisors just added $100 million more on your credit card. Did they ask you if it was OK? No! They used their fall guys and gal known as the Public Facilities Corp. to circumvent the courtesy of asking you taxpayers if you mind a “little” more debt.

They decided the Ventura County Medical Center was in need of repair and expansion. With money already committed and spent, plus the bonds that will now be sold, the total repayment exceeds $100 million. That may or may not be a noble cause, but can we afford it?

Don’t put your checkbook away. There is more to come. When additional bonds are sold to cover the $154 million, and still growing, unfunded county pension liability, the repayment of those bonds will exceed $234 million.

This year’s county budget was $38 million short. With the cutback of federal and state funding, the shortfall is bound to increase. Politicians and bureaucrats call that “free” money and hope you won’t realize it comes from your federal and state taxes.

Added together, the county debt went from $138.6 million to $484.6 million. The big spenders are still in control!

DON HOLLINGSWORTH

Camarillo