By Jason Bailey

Five ballot measures, all asking for more debt, are on the Denver ballot for this election cycle. The politicians want about $950 million in new debt for our city and our citizens. Denver ballots will begin arriving this weekend.

I address all five measures with the same reasoning – the end result does not justify the means. The more important it is to have whatever we want for our city, the more important it is not to use debt so that we have more money to buy said item.

To talk about what each category of debt will buy is to let the politicians pull you into their political nonsense. Government debt makes no sense to begin with.

Government debt requires, on average, twice as many tax dollars per expenditure as building a city without using debt. Government debt will always put pressure on politicians to collect more tax money, fees and fines.

The City and County of Denver raises taxes, one way or another, every year, year after year. Don’t be fooled by the political nonsense about “no new taxes,” as the politicians spend time and money in search of more government debt.

Government debt drains our public budget as we give our money to pay for debt service – interest, fees and other financial overhead. This creates a situation where the city begins to feed on the poor with more fees and fines of every sort. When you’re thirsty, you’ll go looking for water.

When we use debt, we cut our budget in half – half for actual service, half for debt service. Government debt takes our tax dollar and shrinks it to 50 cents. Basic math.

It’s impossible to repay debt without twice as much taxpayer money, on average. Government debt is a counterproductive waste of valuable money.

Bonds are only a tool, they pay for nothing. Banks pay for nothing – every penny needs to be repaid – plus enormous amounts of interest and fees. Bonds cut our buying power, per tax dollar, in half.

We buy a lot more for the city when we do not use bonds. On average, we buy about twice as much for the city, per dollar of revenue, when we do not use bonds.

When politicians claim that things are bought with bonds, they’re just gaslighting the voters of the city. The citizens pay every penny.

So how do we pay for these things without using bonds? We pay for things the same way governments have been paying for things for thousands of years now – with tax money.

Money from the people to the government is the only way to pay for all things government. Regardless of whether we call this money, “a tax,” “a fee,” or “a fine,” it’s money from the people to the government.

From this revenue, we get done what we prioritize. This is the only way all things government are paid. For example, Denver City Council prioritized the new soccer stadium and found $70 million in a matter of minutes.

Government debt will destroy more jobs than it will create. Government debt will create banking jobs, financial staffing jobs, attorney jobs, accounting jobs, while destroying thousands of jobs pertaining to actual productivity – the things that actually matter in life.

Government debt is not an investment, it’s an expense. Government debt is the exact opposite of paying it forward. The next generation of young adults deserve a better world than a world full of debt to be repaid.

We need to stop prioritizing debt and debt service. We need to cut the banks from the public budget. Government debt is short-sided nonsense causing long-term problems.

The politicians need to break their terrible addiction to debt. Debt is the slavery of the free (from 800 BC). Shakespeare wrote more than 200 times to warn about debt.

Unfortunately, much of the advertising money for the mayor’s new debt request is coming from organizations that receive significant tax revenue from SCFD; Denver Art Museum, Denver Botanic Gardens, Denver Center for the Performing Arts. Our tax money is paying for political advertising in search of more debt for the City. Pure financial nonsense.

Mayor Johnston, Denver City Council, you’re throwing away our tomorrow and the next day. The next generation deserve a better world than a world full of debt to be repaid.

A NO vote on 2A, 2B, 2C, 2D, 2E on the Denver ballot will save the taxpayers, and the city’s budget, somewhere between $500 million and $900 million in wasted money – debt service to the bank. Every dollar we give to the bank buys just as much for the city as every dollar we throw into a trash can.

There’s nothing vibrant about debt.

Jason Bailey is the founder of Citizens for NO New Debt (CitizensforNOnewdebt.org), a nonpartisan public service campaign with one mission: To push back on government debt throughout all of Metro Denver and Colorado.