By Amy Cortese
The New York Times
It all came down to the penguins.
Jase Wilson and Patrick Hosty, two self-described urban enthusiasts, were having breakfast in a coffee shop in Kansas City, Mo., one morning in 2012. They were discussing a $500 million general obligation bond issue before voters that would pay for critical improvements in the city’s sewer system as well as a host of smaller projects, including a new penguin exhibit at the zoo.
An acquaintance who overheard the conversation declared that she opposed the bond issue. “Why should I pay for penguins?” she demanded.
Mr. Wilson and Mr. Hosty asked if she had ever bought a municipal bond. She hadn’t. Nor did she quite know what a bond was. And never mind that just a tiny fraction of the funds was earmarked for the zoo.
“We realized right there that our generation — and in fact most people — do not understand how public finance works, or that it finances projects for the public good,” said Mr. Hosty, a bond broker in Kansas City. “Lots of people talk about taxes without understanding how the process works.”
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