An open-ended commitment to debt

Residents of Longview Independent School District — especially property owners — please take heed of what the upcoming proposed bond election means. The LISD Board of Trustees wants us to pay almost $267 million to renovate several schools and build new school buildings.

The Board wants to "purchase (new) sites for school buildings" instead of utilizing property already purchased with our tax money. Then the board wants to build several new schools — and at some future date decide what to do with the vacant buildings we have already paid for. Then some of this money will be utilized to renovate our existing schools — an idea the board should have been focused on all along.

The referendum would give the district authority to tax us "without limit as to rate or amount" in an amount sufficient to pay for the bonds.

Let's look at how much money we would actually be liable for. Not only would we be paying $266.9 million in principal, we would also be paying the "interest on the bonds and the cost of any credit agreements in connection with the bonds." Let's look at how interest affects us in real life terms many of us are familiar with: Purchasing a house.

Many of us purchase a house with a 30-year mortgage. We agree to pay back the principal amount of the loan plus interest and other costs of the credit, much the same way we would pay for these school bonds. Depending on the interest rate, the house will actually cost about twice as much as the purchase price. That means we will actually pay much more than the $267.9 million for these school bonds if they are approved.

I, for one, cannot afford to give the LISD Board of Trustees a blank check every year for however many decades it takes to pay for these bonds.

Please vote against the LISD bond referendum Saturday.

Susan Tanner, Longview

Adults should behave at youth games

Please stay away from children's baseball games if:

1. You heckle children. They need to be built up, not torn down.

2. Cuss uncontrollably and loudly for all to hear. We want to protect our children from people like you. You are intimidating and scary.

3. Disrespect authority. Coaches and officials do this job for free or little pay. If you don't like the way it's going, man-up, be quiet, or clean up your act and volunteer next year.

Penny Shields, Longview

For or against public debt

In the May 6 Longview News-Journal, the editoral stated that "there will come a day when the young people of our nation — the toddlers and children of today — are going to be asked to start paying off the balloon note their parents have been inflating for years."

What about the 28-year bond referendum for schools the newspaper has asked the taxpayers to sign for? Isn't that debt also?

Neal Coulter, Longview

Editor's Note: Yes, a bond program is debt. Many people in business and government believe the use of debt to make large capital investments is good policy, but the use of debt to finance ongoing operations is unwise. It is also fair to note that, unlike the federal deficit, there is a plan to repay the school's debt.