On one side is the 70-year-old Dallas Summer Musicals, which operates at stately Fair Park Music Hall. On the other is the 5-month-old AT&T Performing Arts Center, which hosts the Lexus Broadway Series at the shimmering Winspear Opera House.

The two are competing for the same entertainment dollar in the toughest economy in decades.

Dallas Summer Musicals lost a bid to become a member tenant of the AT&T complex in 2008. That launched a high-stakes rivalry that stresses the two nonprofit titans but gives theatergoers reason to celebrate.

Read the whole story on the Dallas Morning News

(see the update at the bottom)

Somehow a $41 Million dollar expense will only cost $3.02 a year per person. It’s magic!!! That is what the ACC  is saying trying to trick people into believing the cost will be minimal. Some truth:

This figure totally ignores Frisco’s $29.6 Million dollar construction cost. That’s how much it will costs to repay the $19 million bond. . Why would the ACC ignore nearly $30 Million in costs?

Frisco doesn’t tax on a per capita (per person) basis. You pay taxes on your property’s value and of course a sales tax on the things you purchase in Frisco and the city keeps 2%.

There is no per person tax!  To use such an example is a blatant attempt to minimize the real costs to a family.

The figure they are referring to is just the O/M (operating & maintenance) costs. The costs to keep the doors open and the place functioning. In 2002 council members stated the O/M costs would be $96,000/year. According to the ACC, Frisco’s portion will now be about $375K/year. Our own city staff has the estimate at more like $490,000/year. The O/M costs are based on a population formula. The staff’s $490K figure assumed that Frisco would represent 22% of the population of the participating cities. The census is now in and we’re over 28%…so now the yearly O/M is closer to $580,000/year. See the trend….the numbers never get smaller do they?!

The above figures in #3 accepted all of the assumptions that study the ACC cites is accurate vis-a-vis their attendance figures. That very well may not be the case but we’ll concede the point for our purposes here. For Frisco’s portion of the O/M to get as low as $375K a year a few things would have to occur. We’d need to be 22% of the population of Plano, Allen and the 12K folks that Fairview & Melissa add to the mix. We know we’re at 28%. So that’s a no go. Also, the ACC would have to raise over $700,000 per year in corporate sponsorships AND membership dues per year. do you really think that is going to happen? Their assumption is that one percent of ALL families in Collin County will pay $100 per annum to ‘belong’ to the ACC. We feel that’s a huge stretch when only 1/10 of one percent have even given at least one dollar in the last eight years. Not likely. And will be there be corporate sponsorship dollars? Sure there is most certainly be some but hundreds of thousands of buck on a consistent basis when those dollars can also support and sponsor art & shows at the Eisenmann Center, AT & T Center, Fair Park and/or Bass?

Bottom line is… don’t believe the hype!

UPDATE -3/24/2011

The ACC has changed their math on the issue, they are now saying the phase one will cost the average home owner $44 per year.

A SPECIAL INTEREST WANTS TO SPEND $41 MILLION OF YOUR FRISCO TAXPAYER DOLLARS ON ARTS HALL IN ANOTHER CITY!

AND THEY WANT TO SPEND THAT MONEY BEFORE WE INVEST IN MORE MUCH NEEDED ROADS, FIRE STATIONS, POLICE EQUIPMENT ETC…

Ordinary citizens of Frisco vote yes on Prop 1,

this is a call to action!  We need to band together, us taxpaying, go-about-your-business types and not allow our great city to fall into the trap that so many other government entities seem incapable of avoiding.  When times are good they can’t stop spending.  And then when times get tougher they can’t understand why they’re in dire straights.  This May there is a ballot initiative that allows the citizens, We the People, to decide if we will finally put a stop to unnecessary spending, get off our taxpayers’ collective backs and stand up and say ‘NO’ to a powerful and very vocal special interest.  We are referring to a project called The Arts of Collin County.

Early Voting begins May 2 and runs through May 10th.  Election Day is Saturday May 14th.  The ballot initiative will read exactly as follows:

THE REVOCATION OF THE $16,400,000 OF BONDS FOR A PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
ALSO KNOWN AS THE ARTS OF COLLIN COUNTY PROJECT

FOR         (    )
AGAINST  (    )

If you want the bonds to be revoked and not issued by our city council you will want to vote FOR this initiative. We urge you to do.  Now to the ‘WHY’:

IF THESE BONDS ARE SOLD YOUR TAXES WILL GO UP!

This project will cost Frisco taxpayers a staggering $41,000,000 over the life of the bond repayment.  For a municipality of our size that’s not a large number it’s a giant one.  In these tough economic times we simply can’t afford this.  But many rabid supports of the Arts of Collin County (hereafter referred to as the ACC) make false claims that taxes won’t rise to pay for this.  Really?  How so!?  They’d be in a better position to just be honest with us.  We’ll present the facts and you can make the decisions.  In 2009 no bonds were sold and Frisco still had a budget shortfall.  The result was a 4-3 vote in favor of a Tax Rate Increase.  In 2010 there were no bonds sold and yup, another shortfall.  The result was a 4-2 vote in favor of using the city’s ever depleting reserves to make up the difference.  What do you think would happen if the city sold $16.4 million in bonds and then ALSO committed to over $500,000 a year in operations and maintenance costs of this facility?   More $$$ from the good taxpayers of Frisco will leave your grasp!

OUR DEBT IS ALARMING HIGH NOW AT $378,000,000

Believe it or not we have a massive debt burden already.  Just in General Obligation Bonds are burden is $378 Million.  This means that if we don’t sell any more future bonds and we pay back the money that is already owed on time we owe $378 mil.  There are 36,000 households in Frisco.  This works out to each household owing $10,500.  Why would we add $41 Million to this already mammoth figure?  The fact is we shouldn’t do it because we can’t afford it.  Tough times require tough decisions but this one is easy.

WE HAVE OTHER PRIORITIES THAT ARE MORE IMPORTANT

Supporters of the ACC will sing a song (pun intended) about how we NEED this project.  Not ’want’ it mind you, ’need’ it.  How did we ever survive for 100 years as a city without it you wonder?  We had the same question.  And how did we become the fastest growing city in America without it?  Obviously, we don’t NEED it.  Some may want it but we feel there are other priorities that we really do NEED.  For instance, for our rapidly growing population (in the near future) we do NEED more Fire Stations, roads, infrastructure, Police Equipment etc…  In fact here’s a little exercise you can do to that will help you know how to vote on this proposition.  The following is the nearly $100,000,000 in voter authorized bonds that the city council has not yet sold.  Please rank them.

Fire Department Facilities______ Branch Library_______  Performing Arts Center (ACC)______   Police Department_______

Street Improvements (Roads)_______Senior Center_______ Community Theater_______  Parks, Trails & Recreational Facilities_______  Grand Park________

We’re guessing that the majority of Frisco citizens would rather spend money on Police, Fire, Roads, Parks, Libraries and a Senior Center before building a home for the Plano Symphony Orchestra in Allen!

CONSTRUCTION OVERRUNS WILL TAKE EVEN MORE OF YOUR MONEY

No one quite knows what the future holds but dark clouds usual mean heavy rain.  The Guaranteed Maximum Price, in other words the accepted bid, was a smidgen under $70 million at first.  Then it miraculously plummeted to about $66 million when the ACC came up about $4 million short on the funds to start now.  No one seems to know where the four million dollars worth of building went to.  Putting that observation aside, please ask yourself this question….do you think this government project will come in on budget or will it go over budget?  The ACC has assured any asking that they will not go over budget.  Really?  Forgive us for not buying.

When they most certainly do go over the budgeted amount who will pay for it?  The last couple of capital projects in Frisco went over by about 10% (Field House USA & Dr. Pepper Center Renovations).  And neither of these facilities are ‘acoustically sound’.  This is very important because these type of building require SPECIAL engineering and SPECIAL surfaces on their ceilings and SPECIAL surfaces on the walls and floors.  We haven’t found one building in the world of this type that hasn’t gone over budget.  If this only went over by 10 percent we could call ourselves blessed.  So let’s pretend we dodge a serious bullet and only go over by ten percent, which would mean $7,000,000.  Who’s gonna pay for that?  When asked the ACC’s response is ‘It won’t happen.” Yeah, we know that’s what you say now.  That’s what they all say.  But what if it does?  ”Well,” they stammer “Private donations will pay for it.”  Sound fair?  Hardly.  In the nine years since the vote in 2002 this project has raised only $2.7 million cash in hand.  Last year they took in about $600K.  If it takes you a whole year to raise six hundred grand how are you going to pay a $7 million tab?  Construction companies don’t take IOUs.  Here’s the truth….the taxpayers will pay for it.  At that point, when you’ve spend $70 million bucks you don’t halt construction due to lack of funds. You’re committed to finishes it then.  You can’t allow an unfinished building to deteriorate and become an urban blight.  IN OTHER WORDS ANOTHER TAX INCREASE!

THERE IS NO BUILDING AND THEY ARE ALREADY SPENDING MORE THAN THEY TAKE IN!

The ACC doesn’t even exist and yet it is already mired in spending more than they take in.   Here’s the tale of the tape for Fiscal Year 2009-2010:

CASH DONATIONS RECEIVED:  $597,893

TAXPAYER MONEY SPENT:      $640,746

Annual deficit:          -        $42,853 (before they have done anything)

Just imagine what would happen if they ever had a building and $70 million of your money to sling around!  This project spend $640,000 on office space, printed materials, legal fees, marketing and salaries and benefits.  And the donations they took in didn’t even cover their own costs.  Again, only does government run projects like this!