Have you noticed that when polticians get into big debates, they tend to push themselves to hard-to-defend extremes? Democratic Mayor Tom Henry and Republican challenger Paula Hughes are arguing about how much debt the city is obligated for, and they're both saying things open to challenge. Hughes decries the latest debt load, which she says is $516.4 million and includes a $21 million increase last year. But Henry says no, the city actually reduced the debt it owed by $13.2 million. Why the discrepancy?
The candidates and their campaign staffs spar over many issues, but the key difference is this: Hughes counts the mounting bond debt incurred by City Utilities as long-term city debt. If she's wrong on that point, perhaps she was confused because the city itself includes that City Utilities debt in the financial report. It's in a table titled “City of Fort Wayne
