AISD land sales

[ashbeeigh]

Originally Posted by impulsivetravelerguy

Or leave property taxes the same instead of being hellbent on cutting them. With the rise in property values, there will be a rise in revenue generated from property taxes. If they just left the taxes the same, the amounts generated would be proportional to the people flocking to the city.

That still doesn't help increase the amount of money that is needed to pay higher salaries or rebuild schools which is what this plan would do.

[impulsivetravelerguy]

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

Property tax rates are required to drop when the total receipts get too high. The city is not suppose to profiteer and when property values have the inevitable drop at some point, there is no way to fund everything that came along when the property values are high.

And this 'one-point' fix to anything is such a narrow approach. Lets say your raise all the teachers (6,000+) salaries so that they can afford to live more central (although some will not, obviously, depending on where they teach/want to live), and suddenly you have more demand for the same number of properties. And the prices go up. To pretend that the economy is not a web of cause and effect is way too simplistic.

So what's the alternative? While tech salaries and other salaries go up, keep teacher salaries down so more teachers quit because they can't afford the cost of living? The biggest problem with gentrification is not an influx of money that comes in, but the extreme wealth inequality it brings. Salaries and increases need to stay in line with what the cost of living is increasing.

No matter what the job someone does, they need to be able to afford to live in the area they are doing that job. I'm not saying they get to live in a prime area, but they need to be within a reasonable distance away (My opinion is 1 hour maximum each way for a commute). That means Austin teachers need to be able to afford Round Rock or Georgetown. If they can't afford that, you will continue to have shortages. That's basic supply and demand in the labor market. It's not "profiteering" to use the excess property taxes to increase wages so people can afford to live where they work.

[Trainwreck20]

'Continue to have shortages'? AISD has a shortage of teachers? From a friend trying to transfer here from out of state with lots of experience, it is competitive to get a job in AISD as a teacher.

[impulsivetravelerguy]

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

'Continue to have shortages'? AISD has a shortage of teachers? From a friend trying to transfer here from out of state with lots of experience, it is competitive to get a job in AISD as a teacher.

The OP's original article said the opposite:

"“We lose about 800 teachers a year and half of the reason we lose teachers is because they can no longer afford to live here in Austin,” said Paul Saldana, VP Board of Trustees AISD."

[Trainwreck20]

Originally Posted by impulsivetravelerguy

The OP's original article said the opposite:

"“We lose about 800 teachers a year and half of the reason we lose teachers is because they can no longer afford to live here in Austin,” said Paul Saldana, VP Board of Trustees AISD."

...and thousands more are waiting to fill their spots...