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Post by dgriffin on Jan 27, 2011 23:47:11 GMT -5
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Post by clarencebunsen on Jan 28, 2011 7:57:30 GMT -5
OK I'll bite. I can see problems but from where would the financial salvation come.
I bought the house I did because the school district provided more than "mandatory basic services." I see nothing here that would indicate a reduction in costs or an improvement in services. I do see a process to further isolate those who determine how to spend money from those who provide it.
Also, what are the "special provisions for reduction in tax" and which are the "certain cities?"
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Post by dgriffin on Jan 28, 2011 8:55:21 GMT -5
Exactly, CB! Just more of the same spending and handing us the bill, except done at a level farther away from us in Albany. But that's what we have today, practically, except there are local school boards to yell at.
You can bet politics will be very apparent. Liberal voter blocks and swing vote groups could effect a funneling of extra money to urban schools while the suburbs are left with nothing but the bills. HOWEVER, this could be a monetary break for seniors who are not so worried about increases in income taxes. Local property taxes are probably the most likely culprit to drive me out of my home (and the state) in the next decade. To be releived of those taxes and have younger families bear the burden through income taxes would be a bit of a salvation to me.
A "simple" solution for financing schools statewide is to provide a per student amount of money, adjusted by a multiplier that reflects an area's living costs. Also, if the state became the employer of school districts, there might be changes regarding unions.
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Post by corner on Jan 28, 2011 20:51:06 GMT -5
i am state tax exempt how would this affect me?
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Post by dgriffin on Jan 28, 2011 21:17:20 GMT -5
i am state tax exempt how would this affect me? Do you mean you don't pay state income taxes?
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Post by corner on Jan 29, 2011 15:46:09 GMT -5
correct benefit for working for the state then retiring on state pension no more state tax ss tax or medi tax before anybody starts bitching its a benefit as a condition of my employment and accepting lower pay, and there aint nobody living who would turn down a job with bennies,,,btw this included getting shot at several times, stabbed 3 times and a contract on my life (in 1999.)
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Post by dgriffin on Jan 29, 2011 22:05:47 GMT -5
Corner, I've never been shot at or stabbed and no one has an interest in my dieing, so I'd say you earned it.
Well, who knows how it would work. The devil is always in the details. But a straightforward interpretation (dangerous, I suppose) of what's being proposed (only one of a number of proposals) would say that you'd pay no school taxes, because it would be shifted to the state income tax, which we have to assume would be increased to raise the money for schools.
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Post by corner on Jan 30, 2011 7:47:50 GMT -5
that i could live with considering the amount im paying in school taxes right now i dont see the idea getting any traction however cause the local school districts like to spend and spend
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Post by dgriffin on Jan 30, 2011 14:39:33 GMT -5
If it happened it would mean state control of schools via the purse strings and the local school district would probably become a non-entity. Which to a large extent it is now, since mostly everything that occurs in NY Schools is controlled by the state.
The problem with any of these proposals is even if any were implemented, by the time the special interests were finished influencing the details, you'd still be getting screwed somehow.
But as you say, these are just proposals. They come from people with good intentions (in some but not all cases) but will be trumpeted by politicians who want to be remembered at the ballot box as champions of the common people, but who will do little to actually bring about change.
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Post by dgriffin on Jan 31, 2011 12:23:04 GMT -5
OPINIONEDITORIAL Within Our MeansPublished: January 30, 2011 " ... The Ilion school district, in upstate Herkimer County, is another that has been long neglected, and last year’s loss of about $450,000 in state aid hit particularly hard. The district had to lay off 3 of its 145 teachers and did not replace two others who retired. The superintendent worries that he might have to lay off as many as 10 additional teachers this year. .... Governor Cuomo’s call for a 2 percent cap on property taxes will make a bad situation even worse. It would make it impossible for districts — unless voters overrode the cap — to raise more local school aid at the very time that the state is cutting its contribution." In the next two months, Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the Legislature will have to make very difficult decisions about how to close a $10 billion budget deficit — which state offices to shutter, which services and aid to cut, which employees to lay off and which taxes to raise. There are no easy fixes left. Mr. Cuomo has vowed to balance the budget without borrowing or using any of the accounting gimmicks that helped dig New York into this hole. That’s good news. But we are skeptical of his no-new-taxes pledge and his promise to let a surcharge on high earners expire. Extending that one tax until the end of 2012 would add an estimated $2 billion to the budget in the coming fiscal year and $4 billion the following year. Without additional revenue, all of the $10 billion will have to come from spending cuts — a reduction of more than 10 percent for the state’s projected $92.3 billion operating budget. Half of that goes to schools and Medicaid and other health care. So the state’s most vulnerable citizens — the poor, the sick, the elderly and schoolchildren — will inevitably bear the largest burden. Is there room to cut? Yes. New York spends more per pupil on education and more per enrollee on Medicaid than nearly any other state. Salaries and benefits for state employees outstrip the private sector. In some cases, such as parts of the Medicaid program, the services are better and would be worth the investment in easier times. In too many cases, those higher costs are the result of Albany’s profligacy and its eagerness to reward unions and other special interests. New York also ranks at or near the top of various surveys of tax burdens. The tax system needs to be reviewed, but there is no way to deal with the budget crises — near-term and long-term — without higher taxes. CONTINUED AT: www.nytimes.com/2011/01/31/opinion/31mon1.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&adxnnlx=1296493295-TMu0vdHfbzAZKX5gtj7%209w
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Post by JGRobinson on Mar 24, 2011 18:04:36 GMT -5
Is this a field leveler or just a new way of grabbing into our earnings? Depends how they classify wealth, I hear about socking it to Millionaires but they are socking it to me and I an far from rich or being a Millionaire, either way, I don't think I like it,,,
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Post by firstamendment on Mar 24, 2011 19:28:19 GMT -5
Well, it would change a lot. If you take certain areas, like say the City of Utica or even the Village of Herkimer, approximately half of all properties are off the tax rolls, occupied by tax exempt organizations. If the school tax component from property taxes were removed, it may help or hurt, depending on the area.
I can't say giving the State full control over the revenues for local school districts gives me the warm fuzzies though.
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Post by corner on Mar 24, 2011 20:52:36 GMT -5
Well, it would change a lot. If you take certain areas, like say the City of Utica or even the Village of Herkimer, approximately half of all properties are off the tax rolls, occupied by tax exempt organizations. If the school tax component from property taxes were removed, it may help or hurt, depending on the area. I can't say giving the State full control over the revenues for local school districts gives me the warm fuzzies though. i can see upstate money being funneled downstate with this kind of non regional control
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Post by firstamendment on Mar 24, 2011 20:57:18 GMT -5
Well, it would change a lot. If you take certain areas, like say the City of Utica or even the Village of Herkimer, approximately half of all properties are off the tax rolls, occupied by tax exempt organizations. If the school tax component from property taxes were removed, it may help or hurt, depending on the area. I can't say giving the State full control over the revenues for local school districts gives me the warm fuzzies though. i can see upstate money being funneled downstate with this kind of non regional control Given the "flawed" school aid formula now, that prospect is very real. The interesting part is, the money should be flowing UPSTATE since there is a lot more money downstate.
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Post by dgriffin on Mar 24, 2011 22:06:07 GMT -5
Look at it this way. A. Taxes will NEVER be reduced. When have they? B. The Middle Class will always foot most of the bill. When haven't they? C. The rich folks spoken of who will be taxed more are our rulers. Do you think they'd vote more taxes on themselves. D. You and I are screwed.
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