Saturday, July 27, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.
The city is selling the bonds based on speculation, said Carole Vilardo, president of the Nevada Taxpayers Association.
"I become concerned when we're issuing bonds when we don't have a plan, and when we don't have actual dollar costs," Vilardo said.
"We also don't know if we'll be able to use the stadium as is envisioned, but we're pledging revenue betting on the come that everything works out the way we want," she said. "And yet we have other projects which the public could conceivably be asked to fund with property tax."
The $22.5 million in bonds, scheduled to be issued in September, are earmarked for the purchase of more than 110 acres to build a spring training facility for major league baseball teams and to expand City Hall.
But no land deal has been signed for the training complex, even though the city estimates the land will be worth $12 million.
The deal to build the complex is part of a dual agency effort. Henderson's partner, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, has pledged to build the complex, but no teams have signed contracts to come to Henderson.
And no architectural designs been developed for the City Hall expansion, even though the city estimates it will cost $10 million.
"It's a chicken-or-egg issue," City Manager Philip Speight told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "Do we wait until land prices go through the roof?"
The bonds will be issued in two amounts: $14.55 million and a $7.9 million. State law allows the city to issue bonds without a public vote as long as the city pledges that the bond-financed project generates enough income to pay interest and principal as it comes due.
The city will use sales tax generated by the baseball complex to pay off the project's debt, said Mark Wood, the deputy district attorney who advises the debt management commission.
Under state law, the $7.9 million issue still needs to be approved by the Department of Taxation, which on Friday said it had yet to receive a request from Henderson. The bonds do not have to be approved by voters because they have a maturity date of less than 10 years.
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