Comments on: Oak Ridge and the downside of derivatives trading http://ellensmith.org/blog/2009/07/08/oak-ridge-and-the-downside-of-derivatives-trading/ I'm Ellen Smith, member of the Oak Ridge City Council. Thank you for visiting my blog and reading my views on public and private life in and around Oak Ridge, Tennessee. This website is my own; content here does not represent the official policies or views of the City of Oak Ridge. To add your own comments, click on the topic title to open a comment box. To read posts about a particular topic, scroll down to "Categories" (in the sidebar) or use the "Search" box in the sidebar. Look under "Archives" to see collections of past posts organized by date. Wed, 02 May 2012 13:01:54 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Ray Kircher http://ellensmith.org/blog/2009/07/08/oak-ridge-and-the-downside-of-derivatives-trading/comment-page-1/#comment-39458 Ray Kircher Sat, 11 Jul 2009 23:14:07 +0000 http://ellensmith.org/blog/?p=166#comment-39458 Thank you for working our city away from questionable financing. It just goes to say, if we cannot afford, we shouldn't be selling off future residents to pay for it. Thank you for working our city away from questionable financing. It just goes to say, if we cannot afford, we shouldn’t be selling off future residents to pay for it.

]]> By: Ellen Smith http://ellensmith.org/blog/2009/07/08/oak-ridge-and-the-downside-of-derivatives-trading/comment-page-1/#comment-39451 Ellen Smith Sat, 11 Jul 2009 19:48:31 +0000 http://ellensmith.org/blog/?p=166#comment-39451 Oak Ridge voters authorized a sales tax increase for the ORHS project, the City Council authorized borrowing money for it (before I was on Council), and the city (not the school board) actually borrows the money. The actual project was the school system's affair (school board and school administration). I don't understand all of your points about the debt, Ray, so I'll respond with some more facts. The total city debt is over $150 million, including borrowing for utilities. Most of this is fixed-rate borrowing, except for (1) about $26 million that is covered by interest rate swaps and (2) a similar amount that is in other variable-rate instruments -- mostly borrowing through the Tennessee Municipal Bond Fund that you allude to in your comment about Charles "Bones" Seivers. The conventional wisdom among Tennessee municipal governments is that borrowing through the bond fund costs less than other forms of borrowing, but the media have raised legitimate concerns about the way the fund is managed. Regardless of who does the lending to the city, I'd feel a lot better if the city got out of the business of variable-rate borrowing. Oak Ridge voters authorized a sales tax increase for the ORHS project, the City Council authorized borrowing money for it (before I was on Council), and the city (not the school board) actually borrows the money. The actual project was the school system’s affair (school board and school administration).

I don’t understand all of your points about the debt, Ray, so I’ll respond with some more facts. The total city debt is over $150 million, including borrowing for utilities. Most of this is fixed-rate borrowing, except for (1) about $26 million that is covered by interest rate swaps and (2) a similar amount that is in other variable-rate instruments — mostly borrowing through the Tennessee Municipal Bond Fund that you allude to in your comment about Charles “Bones” Seivers. The conventional wisdom among Tennessee municipal governments is that borrowing through the bond fund costs less than other forms of borrowing, but the media have raised legitimate concerns about the way the fund is managed. Regardless of who does the lending to the city, I’d feel a lot better if the city got out of the business of variable-rate borrowing.

]]> By: Ray Kircher http://ellensmith.org/blog/2009/07/08/oak-ridge-and-the-downside-of-derivatives-trading/comment-page-1/#comment-39431 Ray Kircher Fri, 10 Jul 2009 13:25:26 +0000 http://ellensmith.org/blog/?p=166#comment-39431 Back to the money, out of the $100 Million, which I was just told it is closer to $200 Million than $100 Million, we were only able to move $26 Million of it. How did this city get so locked down with their finances, and why would anyone want to lock down payments and not interest? This is crazy that our interst rates are not locked by the payments are. Is all of this James O'Connor and Charles "Bones" Seiver's financial dealings? Back to the money, out of the $100 Million, which I was just told it is closer to $200 Million than $100 Million, we were only able to move $26 Million of it. How did this city get so locked down with their finances, and why would anyone want to lock down payments and not interest? This is crazy that our interst rates are not locked by the payments are. Is all of this James O’Connor and Charles “Bones” Seiver’s financial dealings?

]]> By: Ray Kircher http://ellensmith.org/blog/2009/07/08/oak-ridge-and-the-downside-of-derivatives-trading/comment-page-1/#comment-39430 Ray Kircher Fri, 10 Jul 2009 13:16:37 +0000 http://ellensmith.org/blog/?p=166#comment-39430 Seems to me we are on very shaky ground when citizens allow a $47 Million High School, but $61 Million is spent. All city council members seem to be is the city manager's cheerleaders, not the investigative and questioning people we elect them to be. No wonder voting here is a very low turnout, you cannot make a change by changing council members, unless we voted for the whole slate at one time. Seems to me we are on very shaky ground when citizens allow a $47 Million High School, but $61 Million is spent. All city council members seem to be is the city manager’s cheerleaders, not the investigative and questioning people we elect them to be. No wonder voting here is a very low turnout, you cannot make a change by changing council members, unless we voted for the whole slate at one time.

]]> By: Ellen Smith http://ellensmith.org/blog/2009/07/08/oak-ridge-and-the-downside-of-derivatives-trading/comment-page-1/#comment-39420 Ellen Smith Fri, 10 Jul 2009 03:21:28 +0000 http://ellensmith.org/blog/?p=166#comment-39420 The city's total debt is over $100 million, including bonds for the high school, electric system improvements, water and wastewater projects, and various other capital projects. Bonds for the mall or Crestpointe would have added to the total debt. The city’s total debt is over $100 million, including bonds for the high school, electric system improvements, water and wastewater projects, and various other capital projects. Bonds for the mall or Crestpointe would have added to the total debt.

]]> By: Ray Kircher http://ellensmith.org/blog/2009/07/08/oak-ridge-and-the-downside-of-derivatives-trading/comment-page-1/#comment-39408 Ray Kircher Thu, 09 Jul 2009 11:59:09 +0000 http://ellensmith.org/blog/?p=166#comment-39408 Oh, also what does this $26 Million in bonds cover? Oh, also what does this $26 Million in bonds cover?

]]> By: Ray Kircher http://ellensmith.org/blog/2009/07/08/oak-ridge-and-the-downside-of-derivatives-trading/comment-page-1/#comment-39407 Ray Kircher Thu, 09 Jul 2009 11:57:22 +0000 http://ellensmith.org/blog/?p=166#comment-39407 What would have happened if the Mall Bonds or the Crestpointe Bonds were issued? What would have happened if the Mall Bonds or the Crestpointe Bonds were issued?

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