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In a representative government, “we the
people” are supposed to have the final say, subject to the rule of law.
If elected officials take an action with which the people disagree,
voters can boot them out at the next election and replace them with
others more to their liking.
But if an elected body votes to borrow a
large amount of money, the people have no recourse, even when the
majority disagree with the decision. The debt will have to be paid,
regardless of who wins the next election. One group of elected officials
can bind the hands of its successors for a generation to come.
The Constitution of North Carolina provides
that, with a few limited exceptions, a county or other local government
cannot contract debt unless approved by a majority of the voters in a
referendum (Article V, Sec. 4). Certificates of Participation, or COPS
bonds, are a loophole devised by lawyers to enable local governments to
disregard this provision of the state Constitution and borrow money
without a vote of the people.
We believe requiring voter approval for
contracting debt is an important check on the power of elected
politicians. The use of COPS bonds violates the spirit, if not the
letter, of our state Constitution.
For this reason, we strongly disagree with
the Iredell county commissioners’ recent unanimous decision to issue
$106,000,000 in COPS bonds. The county has used COPS bonds to borrow
money before, but for much lesser amounts. Local taxpayers will be
paying for these bonds for a generation to come.
It is true that new classrooms will be
needed due to the county’s rapid population growth. Whether $106,000,000
is needed for that purpose at this time is much more questionable.
If the commissioners believed borrowing
$106,000,000 was justified, they should have scheduled a referendum and
taken their case to the people. What are they afraid of? A little over
two years ago, the voters approved school bonds, albeit for a far
smaller amount.
The odds are stacked heavily in favor of
approving a bond referendum. School administrators spend their time and
use taxpayer-paid resources to campaign for the bonds. The mainstream
media pull out all the stops in support of the bond. Architects,
construction companies, and others who profit from school building
projects donate thousands of dollars to the pro-bond campaign. If the
commissioners fear a bond referendum will fail, they must think the case
for it is weak indeed. |
