Stadium bond questions multiply as vote nears

              PAGE' I 0, SECTION I THE HOU S l ON POST pays the ~ddl~r. should call _the pr~sent Commissioners Court- mately 300 acres at a · price of rega.t.ed? willing to consider a cut-down
_______________ SUNDAY, _JANUARY 2,. 1961 tune, but _is w~g to negotiate which will be in office until the $10,000 an acre. A)_ Nobod ill d t·- version of the proposed stadium
· the question. It 1s a matter to . . Y w give a e 1 . . . · St d• B d Q 1
. settled in contract talks end of 1962, at least - will not Q) What majority _of votes is nite answer to this question. To !he sports assoc1atio!1 beheve a lum On Iles Ions · permit an increase in the as- needed to authorize issuance of t d Id to ti 11 al' it would be out of business here,
Q) IF ANYTHING goes wrong . the bonds? 0 0 so wou au ma ca Y i- as far as baseball is concerned,
• with the lease a~eement, will sessment .. basis, alt~oug~ the A) A simple majority. enate a large number of poten- after having spent about $750, M It PI V t N rs the county be obligated to pay county will continue its proper- Q) Will the stadium belong to lial voters, regardless of what 000 to bring the project to its U I y as O e off_ the outst:nding bonds from ty revaluation program started the county? answer was .gi".'en. Ho.w~ver, a present point of development.
tax revenues. several years ago. A) Yes. sports association official re-
By MARSHALL VERNIAUD or d own war u depending on . A) Yes. The entire $22 Mil- AN¥ UPWARD REVISION of Q) Is it legal f~r the count! · called that no . other I?aj~r
Harris County's fast-moving whether the best interest rate hon must be guaranteed ~o bond the county's assessment basis to lease the s~<l!um to a pri- league ball park m th natio~ is
plans for a stadium have gene- .1 bl 1 b h' h buyers out of the county s gen- . . vate organization f segregated, and that various
rated more direct questions, and avai a e wou d e ig er or eral fund tax revenues. The gen- would automatically raise t~e A) COUNTY OFFICIALS see public facilities in the city and
h f t lower. eral fund tax rate cannot per aps ewer concre e answers, be baym ocuonutn otyf sttaaxtpea tyaexress tsoi nbcee ptahide n-ithing illegal about doing so · co. unty ha.v e taken down the ra-
I than any major local public im- Q) Would the unty share in raised above its 80-cent consti- . • The county has for many years . cial barrier.
provement issue in recent years. any profits the a elation might tutional limit without a state- st~te Jevy is based on county leased its park facilities to pri- Q-WHAT WJLL HAPPEN if
Voters will be asked to decide earn? wide constitutional amendment. va ua ons. vate organizations, though usu- the c0unty and the sports asso.
Tuesday, by ballot, whet h er A) At least three members Q) What is to prevent the Q) What assurance does the ally for short perio?s, On 1!1e elation cannot agree on satis-
0 the county shall issue up to $22 01 the Commissioners Court be- county from increasing its as- county have that the proposed theory tha! the stadium and its factory lease terms after the
1Million in genera I obligation Iieve a lease contract should sessment basis to raise addl· stadium site can be obtained for grounds will be a county park, bonds are approved by voters?
bonds-with an implied promise provide that the county will tional revenues within the gen- $3 Million? there appears to be no reason A) '..... The bonds will not be
that most or all of the bonds share in any profits over a spec. eral fund's constitutional limit, A) The County Park Board why the stadium could not also sold.
'will be paid off by the rentals ified amount, if only as an ad- in the event that the county bas has letters of agreement, tanta- be leased. And a long lease Q) - If the bond issue fails,
,paid by the Houston Sports As- ditional aid to the county's bond to pay off the bonds? • mount to options, that owners should be as valid as a short whM then?
sociation-to build a super stadi- retirement fund. The association A) Nothing. But County Judge of land within the proposed sit~ one. A) - There will be no sta­um
here. believes 1bat tl e fellow who Bill Elliott has pledged that the will sell the county approxi- Q) - Will the stadium be seg- dium. County officials are un-
1\IANY TAXPAYERS. aware
that they will have to foot the
bill for the bonds if anything
,goes wrong with the promise,
1have asked questions in an ef­fort
to weigh intelligently theit
own personal advantages and
:risks in voling on the bond ques­tion.
In question-and-answer form,
the most fr e q u e n t questions
asked, and their most direct an­swers
obtained from officials of
Harris County and the sports as­sociation,
are:
Q) Why are voters asked to
vote on two bond propositions
rather tha.n on a single propo­isitton
for the full $22 Million?
A) One proposition, designat­ed
"park bonds," is an ;18 Mil­lion
package containing $3 Mil­lion
for the purchase of a sta­dium
site and $15 Million for
actual construction of the sta­dium.
The other proposition, desig­nated
"road and bridge bonds,"
is for $4 Million to pay the coun­ty's
share of the estimated $10
Million cost of road and drain­age
improvements in areas ad-
' joining the stadium grounds. The
:remaining part of this outlay
1 will come from other govern­mental
agencies and from prop­erty
donations of individuals.
THE $4 MILLION issue may,
at the county's option, be re­tired
at the end of 10 years upon
payment of any outstanding prin­cipal
and accrued interest. The
larger issue may not be retired
until its maturity within a spec­ified
period of up to 40 years.
Q) ls there any agr3ement bc-
1wce11 Harris Cow1ty and the
Houston S p o r t s Association
\: ·hich guarantees that the asso·
elation will put up enough mon·
e,y to retire the bonds without
II, tar h1crease?
A) There is as yet no written
tll n The asso-