Did the Repeal SMART Campaign Cost SMART $17 Million?

One of the consequences of the Internet revolution is how it has constrained local media’s ability to act as a check on local government. Just like corporations, local government agencies, if not checked, will make promotional claims not supported by the facts.

Consider the recent claim made by SMART’s general manager that the Repeal SMART campaign has “cost” SMART $17 million.

This can’t possibly be true, because SMART doesn’t have $17 million to lose. In fact, it is a theoretical cost. SMART wanted to issue an 18-year fixed-rate bond late last year. Its financial advisors told SMART staff that the market would charge a much higher interest rate if it chose to issue the bonds prior to resolution of the repeal effort. 

The agency listened to its advisors and didn’t issue the fixed-rate bond and didn’t incur the $17 million in additional interest that it could ill afford.

Yet we see the false claim repeated by SMART supporters. The most recent example was a letter in the Marin Independent Journal from Richard Chinlund of San Rafael claiming that the Repeal SMART campaign “will cost us taxpayers an additional $17 million in additional interest charges due to the additional risks.”

It amazes me that SMART supporters continue to believe anything and everything that emanates from the same agency that has misled them and the rest of the public since its inception.