16 Reasons to vote NO on the NCTC Bond:

1. It will more than double NCTC Property Taxes for the life of the bonded debt, likely 25-30 years.  Current NCTC projections are the tax rate would go from 7.17 to 14.37 cents on a 25 year bond. We believe NCTC has underestimated this.  Our calculations show the tax rate for a 25 year bond @ 4.95% interest would be 8.197 cents, not the 7.2 cents NCTC is showing.  Add 7.17 to 8.197 together and the tax rate goes to 15.367 cents. NCTC will not respond to our questions and spreadsheet.
2. NCTC taxes on Senior Homesteads are not frozen as NCTC has previously claimed.  NCTC bond supporters and employees made numerous phone calls to seniors telling them it wouldn't cost them anything to vote for the bond.  That is untrue.  NCTC has since quietly updated their documentation fine print to reflect this but neither NCTC nor the newspapers that support them have put this out to the public in any noticeable way. Dr. Hadlock and NCTC complained that misleading information put out by the bond opponents resulted in it being voted down.  If they are so concerned about misleading information,why don't they and their friends in the newspapers make every effort to inform Seniors they were given incorrect information and most of their taxes will go up??
   
3. Only Cooke County taxpayers will pay for the bond.  The eight out of nine students/families that attend NCTC and live outside Cooke County are not obligated to pay one dime towards the bond.  Just over one out of three, (809 out of 2256 or 36%), of students attending the Gainesville campus are from Cooke County according to NCTC Spring 2011 enrollment documents on their web site.  See link to NCTC's Spring 2011 Enrollment data below.
   
4. It is the largest bonded debt in the history of Cooke County.  It is 3x what the jail cost.
5. The average debt incurred per Cooke County student attending the Gainesville Campus will be about $38,000.  With interest and fees that will approach $78,000 over the life of the bond, the cost of a good starter house.
6. Cooke County taxpayers already subsidize Out of County students to the tune of $1,000,000+ a year on the Gainesville campus.  With annual NCTC Property Taxes doubling to over $4,000,000 a year for Cooke County Taxpayers, that subsidy will be approaching $2,500,000 a year.
7. NCTC has been suggesting Nursing accreditation is at risk if the bond passes.  There appears to be no documentation supporting this.  You know we asked for it.  NCTC Nursing is accredited through the Fall of 2015.  The letter NCTC received confirming this has some suggested action items, none of which had anything to do with upgrading facilities, or equipment for that matter.
8. The cost of the buildings is exorbitant.  The new Administration building renamed Student Services & Academic Support Center will cost $12 million plus about $10 million interest and will have no classrooms.  The cost per square foot is $247 before interest.  Most office buildings could be built for half that.  While the name has changed, all the college executives and most the administrators, (except IT), who reside in the current Administration Building will be moving to this new, expensive building.
9. We agree NCTC needs to improve their health science capabilities and facilities.  However; we don’t need to spend $12 million at a cost of  $258 a square foot to get what is needed.  The buildings can be repaired for a couple million dollars and we can add new capabilities for a couple million more, using reserves or a revenue bond.
10. NCTC should consider raising the health sciences tuition for Out-of-County students and consider classes on nights and weekends to make better use of the facilities we have.  Higher tuition would allow Out-of-County students to make a meaningful contribution to the improved facilities and minimize the chance of local students being shut out by students outside Cooke County whose families contribute no taxes to NCTC.
11. Cooke County Taxpayers  should not be paying $4.8 Million, plus interest of about $4 million for a Student Life Facility that will be primarily used by Out of County students.  Johnny Leftwich said we need to expand the eating facilities to feed 2,000 students.  Most college students prefer the local restaurants.  Why should the local restaurants be forced to pay double NCTC taxes to subsidize the competition, in this case the college?  This building is being enhanced primarily to recruit and provide enhanced recreational facilities for out of area students, many of which are on full athletic scholarships.  If only 10-20 fans attend most athletic events, it doesn’t sound like this is justified.
12. The last Grayson County College Bond passed by a single vote.  Don’t forget to vote and let someone else decide to double your taxes.
13. NCTC already did a groundbreaking in 2004 for a new Agriculture building and Arena.  It was a big tent affair with barbecue and celebration.  Seven years later and they still haven't built it.  Until they decided they wanted to pass a bond, they wouldn't even put it on the agenda as requested by Board Member Steve Gaylord. At a board meeting after the first bond failed, it was suggested they keep this in to get support from the agriculture community but possibly not build it or build it and use it for something else.  NCTC is under no legal obligation to build this and the plan they included for the bond has no Arena.
14. After the Gainesville ISD bond was twice rejected, GISD stripped out the most questionable features and put up another bond proposal saying they wouldn't build the sports complex. After it passed, they used reserves to build it and recently raised the M&O tax rate to pay back the money they took out of reserves.  Many of the same people who pushed that bond are supporting the NCTC bond.  Why shouldn't we expect NCTC to raise M&O taxes after the bond to make up for what they took out of the second bond?  It would be very easy to do and the voters could do nothing to stop them other than vote them out after it is done, much like we did with the board which built the Performing Arts Center.
15. I was recently told that this facilities upgrade was in the works before I joined the NCTC Board in 2004.  If that is the case, why wasn't the $6 million spent of the Performing Arts Center applied to Nursing & Health Sciences?  They could have gotten a very nice Health Sciences Facility for $6 million then and there would not have been the public outcry.
    
16. It all comes down to what NCTC's priorities which have not been managed well.