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Councilman Greenalch explained the reasons why the Council had decided to issue $16,140,000 in bonds in 1986 to pay for a new fire station, new library and new city hall; and, advised that the Council had made a pledge that monies from the Utilities Users tax (adopted in 1984) would be spent on capital improvement projects ONLY. "The council realized that for every $100,000 of tax they were collecting they could fund approximately $1,000,000 in bonds. ...Legally and ethically not one dollar of that bond income could be used for increased public safety expenditures." In 1991 the City Council and Board of Directors of the Redevelopment Agency decided to issue more bonds to: A) refinance the 1986 bonds with lower interest rates; B) build a new police facility; and C) complete Redevelopment Agency capital projects. Councilman Greenalch stated "The debt of the citizens of Redwood City has not been tripled. It has been raised from $16,140,000 to $26,715,000. This is an increase of $10,575,000 or 66% to raise a debt by 2/3 is not to triple it." These funds provided "a much needed fire station, a library that has been named the library of the year, and a new police facility which most people agree was a necessity and not an extravagance. It is true that the payment on the debt increased 55% but the amazing reality is the debt could be serviced without increasing the utilities users' tax or any other tax. I, as an elected official, applaud my predecessors, colleagues, past and present staff, and the citizens of Redwood City who made this all possible. It is rare these days to find elected officials who make pledges and keep them. We have done that and look what return you have -- received on your investment. "The Redevelopment Agency did Increase its indebtedness from approximately $4,200,000 to $16,950,000. This is indeed a fourfold increase in the Agency's debt. I hasten to add, however, that the debt of the Agency is not a debt of the citizens of Redwood City. Mere semantics you might say. No it is more than that. The debt of the Redevelopment Agency is the responsibility of the Redevelopment Agency and not that of the City Council or citizens of Redwood City. This debt is secured by the tax increment which has come, is coming, and will come from the various redevelopment projects in the City. ...the Redevelopment Agency is perfectly capable of meeting all its obligations. "The assertion has also been made that $18,000,000 of your money has been wasted. ...1 have never been able to get a firm accounting from the person making these allegations of where the money was wasted, ...(but) there are a number of projects in the City of Redwood City that Mr. Steinfeld does not agree should have been built ...the parking structure and new police facility...the entry features and Hamilton Street improvements. The fact that one does not agree with something does not support the charge that the money has been wasted. I ...voted against the entry features and the Hamilton Street MINUTE BOOK NO. 52 Page No. 386 Regular Meeting Minutes September 12, 1994 Page 8