Tag Archives: Capital appreciation bonds

CABs and consequences

Posted on May 14, 2012 by hro50ta1

By Joel Thurtell Gray Davis. If I were a member of the Poway Unified School District in San Diego and my name was Penny Ranftle Linda Vanderveen Andy Patapow Mark Davis Todd Gutschow, I’d be wondering how soon I’d make … Continue reading →

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Scouting for graft: Look for Michigan in California

Posted on May 13, 2012 by hro50ta1

By Joel Thurtell If I were a district attorney or attorney general in California — someone with subpoena power — I’d be asking hard questions about the behavior of public school officials and the people who arrange loans, aka bonds, … Continue reading →

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Disaster shadows Poway

Posted on May 10, 2012 by hro50ta1

By Joel Thurtell I thought Michigan was bad. Back in 1993, when I was writing about Michigan school debt, I was astonished to find school districts taking on debt with interest costs at two, three and in one case almost … Continue reading →

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Bond lawyers: Whose side are they on, anyway?

Posted on May 9, 2012 by hro50ta1

By Joel Thurtell Californians: Greetings from Michigan. In the early 1990s, a Michigan school district actually sued its attorneys in a CAB deal. Amazing! As you West Coasters read the following article, you might want to ask yourselves whether some … Continue reading →

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CABs and the high cost of secret deals

Posted on May 8, 2012 by hro50ta1

By Joel Thurtell If you want the best price, bid the work out. That’s a no-brainer, right? Well, the people who love high-interest Capital Appreciation Bonds also love making their deals behind the scenes. Why allow competitive bidding when you … Continue reading →

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Long after goodies are junk, it’s pay, pay, pay

Posted on May 5, 2012 by hro50ta1

By Joel Thurtell Who would pay $117.5 million for computers priced at $28 million? Who would pay interest three times principal years after the computers were junk? It happened in Romulus, Michigan in 1990. It’s happening in California now. From … Continue reading →

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Kicking debt down the road

Posted on May 3, 2012 by hro50ta1

It’s hard to persuade people to vote for school construction that costs property owners, say, four bucks on a thousand dollars of their property’s value. But tell them the cost will be a buck and hey! Nobody begrudges the cost … Continue reading →

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Take the money and run!

Posted on May 2, 2012 by hro50ta1

Hello, California! You are victims of the same foul money-grinding apparatus that almost capsized Michigan schools 19 years ago. Michigan legislators awakened to the danger and banned the blight of Capital Appreciation Bonds back in 1993. In 1988, one man … Continue reading →

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CABs = compound trouble for California

Posted on May 1, 2012 by hro50ta1

By Joel Thurtell The arcane name for the financial parasites compounding California school debt is “Capital Appreciation Bond.” The California Senate’s Commerce and Finance Committee will consider a ban on CABs at its May 9 meeting. Let’s hope the California … Continue reading →

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Dead in Michigan, CAB scam dogs California

Posted on April 30, 2012 by hro50ta1

The bond industry calls them CABs, for “Capital Appreciation Bonds.” To lay people, the meaning is not easy to parse. The result for taxpayers is simple: CABs are a sleeping monster waiting to gouge property owners 10, 15 or 20 … Continue reading →

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