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I intentionally did not define the riff-raff term. 25K in taxes is high and would force out the plumber with the company van out front and the rental apartment in the basement. But would the guy pulling in 250K a year and in need of tax shelters be too upset to see the plumber's house selling to someone who could afford a 25K property tax? This circles back to my initial question, perhaps you and I are the riff-raff?
But would someone who makes $250K who can afford $25K in property taxes WANT the plumber's old house with an illegal apartment in the basement? It wouldn't even be sitting on enough land or in a posh enough neighborhood to make it a decent teardown. That's where the disconnect is ... working and middle class level homes being priced and taxed at upper middle class prices ... who wants them? Those who wanted them recently and were greedy/scared/foolish enough to pay way more than they were worth only got them because of the mortgage shenanigans that are not likely to be repeated anytime soon.
You can't judge riff raff just by who has money and who doesn't. If that were the case then Mother Teresa, who didn't own a thing, would be riff raff and Bernie Madoff would be a paragon of virtue and a pillar of society.
LOL - my DH played golf once with a plumber - he insisted on being called "Vincent" instead of "Vinnie" since he didn't like the stereotype. But after after a "few" beers, he turned about to be the wealthiest among the foursome, and this was including the guy who belonged to the swanky club they were playing at. I doubt he needed a renter in his home. He may have renters, but they are probably in other houses he owns...my best friend's DH is a contractor and owns 2 houses besides his primary residence. THAT'S where his renters are.
As far as trucks in the driveway, etc - yes, that looks bad - and not all towns allow it - mine doesn't. Just another thing that people let go on Long Island because they can't be bothered.
Good point twingles. I think there is a great misnomer out there that the plumber has the old house, a very elitist attitude. The plumber (and people will always need plumbers) is probably more secure than the financial guy next door. the old saying "don't judge a book by its cover" goes a long way on LI. Many people have the big house, brand new car, etc. but are a paycheck away from losing it all. They are no different from anyone, if anything their fall may just be harder. THEN what--with the market and finance guys hurting- who will be able to pay the high taxes?
I actually think people are just lazy. There was a letter in Newsday today that people deserve their high school taxes because people never vote down the budgets, or bother voting at all. And I have to agree with that sentiment. My ILs, for example, did not vote against the budget this year because "the increase is so small, what does it matter".
But sometimes the Contingency Budget is actually a LARGER increase than the Proposed Budget would be -- and in that case the responsible thing to do would be to vote Yes on the proposed budget in order to end up with the lesser of the two evils.
This was the case in a number of school districts this year, including West Islip in which a close friend of mine lives. She is elderly and no longer has children in the district and we had quite a discussion about the mechanism whereby a voted-down (Contingency) budget can be higher than the Proposed one.
I agree that those who don't bother to vote at all don't deserve to be either complacent or complaining about the results. It's the same view that I hold regarding elections of any type.
I had three civil servants (2 cops & a Town Sanitation worker) in my backyard for a BBQ, they had a 10 minute conversation comparing notes on the double & triple dipping they all did for Memorial Day. One guy was bragging that he's been on paid vacation for 3 weeks, but volunteered to work a few hours on Memorial day, so he got paid his vacation day & holiday double time for working.
This is why LI is broke. Until we own it we are effed.
Oh and don't forget about the money that the various towns pay to independent contractors for "snow removal" --- whether they actually remove any snow or not!
I had an interesting conversation a few months ago while in a local store while chatting with the owner. Snow was forecast for later that evening although none had begun falling yet. A fellow in his mid-late twenties came in, clearly a regular customer who was stopping in to pick something up from a repair. The store owner said "Got your plow on your truck yet? I might need you for our driveway later, if you wont' be too busy."
The fellow replied that he'd have plenty of time and that he loves these forecasts because once the Town puts him "on call" for a storm he will get paid by them even if he never gets a second call later on to go to X location and do any actual plowing! I was very surprised to hear this and asked "But don't they pay you only by the hours you spend plowing?"
The fellow said yes he would get paid for any actual plowing, but since the Towns simply go by whatever time sheet the independent contractor guys with plows hand in, there's no way to know how many hours anyone actually does plow -- so "everyone" pads the numbers: "How do they know whether it took me two passes or six to clear any street? And parking lots are the best money makers. Other than getting paid just for getting a phone call and nothing else."
So that's where part of our tax money goes too: To pay Guys With Trucks to put a plow on them, regardless of whether they plow any snow at all.
I know - I just heard about this little gem this year. Worked out ok for districts when budgets were 8-10%, they'd still get 4%. Now budgets are 1-2%, they were probably hoping to get voted down.
Quote:
Originally Posted by totallyfrazzled
But sometimes the Contingency Budget is actually a LARGER increase than the Proposed Budget would be -- and in that case the responsible thing to do would be to vote Yes on the proposed budget in order to end up with the lesser of the two evils.
This was the case in a number of school districts this year, including West Islip in which a close friend of mine lives. She is elderly and no longer has children in the district and we had quite a discussion about the mechanism whereby a voted-down (Contingency) budget can be higher than the Proposed one.
I agree that those who don't bother to vote at all don't deserve to be either complacent or complaining about the results. It's the same view that I hold regarding elections of any type.
Exactly what riff-raff are you speaking of? Long Island is extremely diverse, a true melting pot. WHO exactly are you keeping out?? Many districts have over 20% free and reduced lunch and ESL (english as second language learners) is one of the fastest growing areas of the school curriculum and tax dollars. Please tell me anyone who does not have at least one illegal apartment on their street or know of one. Those apartments contain families whose children go to LI schools and they are not paying taxes. The question is how high are you willing to let taxes rise, at what point will you say STOP--I can't pay $20,000 a year.
You answered your own question.
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