Revenue bonds aren't paid out of the general fund.
Jared
> Sent: Saturday, April 27, 2024
> From: "Bill Prince" <part15...@gmail.com>
> To: af@af.afmug.com
> Subject: [AFMUG] ***SPAM*** Re: ***SPAM*** Re: ***SPAM*** Re: ***SPAM*** Govt
> funded fiber - Utopia
>
> Bonds are paid (usually, unless specified differently when they were
> issued) out of general revenue funds. If the funds used to pay bonds
> take away enough, the services get compromised, reduced, or not funded
> at all.
>
>
> bp
> <part15sbs{at}gmail{dot}com>
>
> On 4/27/2024 9:33 AM, fiber...@mail.com wrote:
> > I fail to see how revenue bonds divert essential funding away from services
> > that really matter to the public.
> >
> >
> > Jared
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Sent: Saturday, April 27, 2024
> > From: "Ken Hohhof" <khoh...@kwom.com>
> > To: "'AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group'" <af@af.afmug.com>
> > Subject: Re: [AFMUG] ***SPAM*** Re: ***SPAM*** Govt funded fiber - Utopia
> >
> > Everything’s political now, of course.
> >
> > But he does have a point when he says “Government-owned broadband networks
> > cost millions of dollars and divert essential funding away from services
> > that really matter to the public — services such as police and fire, roads,
> > water and sewer.”
> >
> > In the past, the government has undertaken vast programs at taxpayer
> > expense like rural electrification, the interstate highway system, the
> > space program. Now apparently high speed Internet is the thing of the
> > moment that takes precedence over all the other broken things that we might
> > wish government to fix. I sometimes wonder why Internet? Maybe because it
> > seems easy and gives people the power to hand out billions of dollars.
> > Could they cure cancer or get lead out of drinking water or fix all the
> > deteriorating bridges with something like a BEAD program?
> >
> > Maybe they think broadband and AI and neural implants will lead to a future
> > where everyone is plugged into the network and doesn’t need any of those
> > other things. Maybe we’ll all be heads in jars like in Futurama.
> >
> >
> > From: AF <af-boun...@af.afmug.com> On Behalf Of Chuck McCown via AF
> > Sent: Friday, April 26, 2024
> > To: Josh Luthman <j...@imaginenetworksllc.com>; AnimalFarm Microwave Users
> > Group <af@af.afmug.com>
> > Cc: ch...@go-mtc.com; John Brewer <n7...@me.com>
> > Subject: [AFMUG] ***SPAM*** Re: ***SPAM*** Govt funded fiber - Utopia
> >
> >
> > I am surprised they have never broke even.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > From: Josh Luthman
> >
> > Sent: Friday, April 26, 2024
> >
> > To: AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group
> >
> > Cc: John Brewer ; ch...@go-mtc.com[mailto:ch...@go-mtc.com]
> >
> > Subject: Re: [AFMUG] ***SPAM*** Govt funded fiber - Utopia
> >
> >
> >
> > Article:
> > https://www.deseret.com/opinion/2024/04/19/government-internet-service-bad-for-taxpayers/[https://www.deseret.com/opinion/2024/04/19/government-internet-service-bad-for-taxpayers/]
> >
> >
> >
> > On Fri, Apr 26, 2024 at 4:59 PM Chuck McCown via AF
> > <af@af.afmug.com[mailto:af@af.afmug.com]> wrote:
> > By John Dougall
> >
> > For the Deseret News
> >
> > Most Utahns probably agree that government should stick to essential
> > government services and stay out of enterprises that are better performed by
> > the private sector.
> >
> > Yet, across the country and right here in Utah, more and more governments
> > are building government-owned internet networks, despite numerous
> > private-sector providers being available.
> >
> > The number of government-owned networks is increasing by the day, and
> > taxpayers, not users, are often footing the bill. Government-owned broadband
> > networks cost millions of dollars and divert essential funding away from
> > services that really matter to the public — services such as police and
> > fire, roads, water and sewer.
> >
> > Two unfortunate examples of government-owned broadband networks right here
> > in Utah are iProvo and UTOPIA.
> >
> > In 2004, Provo launched iProvo to provide broadband internet services to
> > homes and business. Provo reportedly bonded for $36.5 million to bring
> > service to every home in the city and wrote off $5.4 million that the city’s
> > telecommunications fund owed the Energy Department’s reserve fund to finance
> > the costly deployment. After struggling to make the network viable, iProvo
> > was sold in 2008. But its buyer failed to fulfill the terms of the sale, and
> > iProvo reverted back to the city. In 2013, in a desperate attempt to free
> > itself of the failed venture, the city ultimately sold iProvo to Google for
> > $1.
> >
> > Similarly, UTOPIA (Utah Telecommunications Open Infrastructure Agency) was
> > launched to provide broadband internet services to a consortium of cities.
> > But UTOPIA has failed to fulfill its promises for more than two decades now.
> > The project, which started in 2002, was projected to be finished in three to
> > four years. Fast forward to today, and it is still incomplete. Not only is
> > UTOPIA incomplete, but the project has racked up $300 million worth of debt.
> > And despite iProvo’s example of failure, UTOPIA continues to expand.
> >
> > For years, UTOPIA consistently lost money, expecting taxpayers to cover
> > those losses. In addition to this, the government-owned network continues to
> > expand and pull other cities into this trap. What’s more egregious is that
> > UTOPIA misrepresented its performance as it pitched cities on buying into
> > the expansion fever. For example, UTOPIA once claimed the network had “no
> > cost to taxpayers since 2009.” This statement was patently inaccurate.
> >
> > As your watchdog, I help you to hold your government accountable. My office
> > investigated this and other claims, then we wrote a letter identifying these
> > inaccurate statements. We instructed UTOPIA to do the following:
> >
> > •Discard or destroy marketing materials with misleading statements.
> >
> > • Ensure future communications more accurately reflect the dependence on
> > taxpayer support.
> >
> > •Take steps to remedy the misrepresentations regarding the lack of taxpayer
> > support to any individual or entity that received the inaccurate
> > information.
> >
> > UTOPIA’s shortcomings do not stop there, however. Rather than providing
> > internet access to the more than 40,000 homes and small businesses that lack
> > internet access today, UTOPIA, like other government-owned networks, builds
> > redundant networks that compete with existing private providers, many who
> > are also regulated by the cities in which they operate.
> >
> > Unfortunately, iProvo and UTOPIA are no different from other
> > government-owned fiber networks across the country, which fail financially
> > about 90% of the time.
> >
> > When taxpayer money is being diverted from critical services into pet
> > broadband projects, that money is not going where it is needed most.
> > Taxpayers expect government to maintain roads, provide safe drinking water
> > and keep their communities safe. Money spent propping up broadband services
> > costs taxpayers money, encumbered by decades of debt, and deprives them of
> > important and sufficient government services they want and deserve. Plus,
> > higher taxes burden families, many of whom are struggling today just to
> > provide for themselves.
> >
> > Government-owned broadband has done enough harm to taxpayers. iProvo and
> > UTOPIA should be seen as an example for policymakers of what to avoid.
> > Public officials across the country, and especially here in Utah, should
> > resist the appealing allure of expanding or deploying government-owned
> > networks, which allure has been shown to be deceptive, and ultimately
> > destructive, to taxpayers.
> >
> > John Dougall is the Utah State Auditor and is a candidate for Utah’s 3rd
> > congressional district.
> >
> >
> >
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