Maryland's Anti-Business Obssessive Compulsive Disorder (Rockville, College Park: apartments, lease, condo)

[slowlane3]

Originally Posted by Barry Rock

Im not buying that, show me a link

Barry, here is a link to the article in the Washington Post . Steven Pearlstein: For development, all signs point inward - The Washington Post . If you scroll to page #3, Mr. Pearlstein, the Sunday business columnist, explains how MoCo taxpayers paid a subsidy to Federal GSA to get them to keep 3.000 Federal jobs in MoCo, rather than relocate them to a more transit-friendly spot in PG Co. He calls the decision "knuckle-headed" and says "this bidding war has got to stop" and GSA should make its decisions on a level playing field.

[EdwardA]

Originally Posted by vicnice

Horrible comeback to a horrible point. PG county can do better and casinos don't make the difference. How's Atlantic city saving New Jersey (or it's local county). Any place with casinos is not surrounded by fortune 500 businesses where real money is. Blah blah retail and tourists heard the same with magic Johnson and National Harbor and Fedex before the failed projects.

It's an admission of defeat, and it's dropping a pebble in a lake.

How many casinoes does wall street or silicon valley have. We need real jobs, also.....12,000 jobs is a joke that's temp....long term is probably closer to 1-2K. We need real jobs.....real jobs not casinos.


Why isn't NOVA fighting for this??? They are busy fighting for the FBI.....you can keep the tables.... I will take the jobs and safe neighborhoods they sustain.

Excellent point. Although I voted for 7 folks who think this is going to save PG are sadly mistaken.

[EdwardA]

Originally Posted by North Beach Person

Never had a real job, eh?

So your solution is to allow those areas to wither away to became playgrounds for the enlightened elite (such as yourself) while driving out the residents with increased costs for everything? Gotcha.

Likening factory work to Auschwitz is offensive, by the way.

Sounds like California.

[dkf747]

Originally Posted by slowlane3

Barry, here is a link to the article in the Washington Post . Steven Pearlstein: For development, all signs point inward - The Washington Post . If you scroll to page #3, Mr. Pearlstein, the Sunday business columnist, explains how MoCo taxpayers paid a subsidy to Federal GSA to get them to keep 3.000 Federal jobs in MoCo, rather than relocate them to a more transit-friendly spot in PG Co. He calls the decision "knuckle-headed" and says "this bidding war has got to stop" and GSA should make its decisions on a level playing field.

That's a good article. It's way past time for the Federal Government to build more in PG. They should start with the FBI and move others as well.

[phlinak]

Originally Posted by InvaderBryce

Jobs are better than no jobs; one small step at a time. If you all would stop voting for these damn liberal democrats like O'Malley & Baker, then maybe things would get done in the county. Honestly why do you people love taxes so much?

Are you crazy?

Nobody loves taxes but the reality is taxes are needed to build and fix roads, provide police and fire protection, provide for public education, fund the infrastructure that everyone relies on, etc.. Yes, taxes suck but they are necessary. Remember, you get what you pay for. You can live in a state like Maryland where you have some taxes that are high or, at least, higher than other states but you have pretty decent roads and schools and pretty good public safety coverage or you can live in a state like here in Alaska, where there are no state income or sales tax but we have horrible roads, marginal schools, and very little infrastructure and you're pretty much left on your own.

The bottom line is you get what you pay for.

[justtitans]

Originally Posted by phlinak

Are you crazy?

Nobody loves taxes but the reality is taxes are needed to build and fix roads, provide police and fire protection, provide for public education, fund the infrastructure that everyone relies on, etc.. Yes, taxes suck but they are necessary. Remember, you get what you pay for. You can live in a state like Maryland where you have some taxes that are high or, at least, higher than other states but you have pretty decent roads and schools and pretty good public safety coverage or you can live in a state like here in Alaska, where there are no state income or sales tax but we have horrible roads, marginal schools, and very little infrastructure and you're pretty much left on your own.

The bottom line is you get what you pay for.

It's much more than that. It's not just how much taxes you are taking in, it's also the type of taxes you are taking in. Prince George's County for example is taking in mostly residential taxes, which doesn't equate to the same amount as commercial taxes. In other counties the balance between the two is greater and as a result they have better services or at least more money to put towards those services.

The other factor is where the money is actually going. You can put a ton of money into your county by way of taxes, but if the people who are in charge of the money are making poor decisions then it really doesn't matter. Bottom line, getting more taxes from residents doesn't mean your services will be better.

[justtitans]

Originally Posted by dkf747

That's a good article. It's way past time for the Federal Government to build more in PG. They should start with the FBI and move others as well.

As someone asked earlier, where is the proof that Montgomery County subsidized their bid to get HHS? There is only one thing that I found that may give a clue but isn't definite proof:

GSA Awards 935,000 Square Foot Lease for HHS in Rockville, Maryland

Due to the size of this particular lease, GSA chose to prepare an Environmental Assessment (EA). GSA publically identified all five locations in order for this evaluation to occur. All five fell within the price cap of $34 per square foot established for Suburban Maryland. Price ended up being a major factor in reaching a decision, and the offers in Montgomery County were significantly lower than those in Prince George’s County.

Here's another:

Prince George's teams angered by GSA's HHS decision - Washington Business Journal

The GSA said all five sites in the running had rental rates under the $34 per square foot rent cap in suburban Maryland, but that offers in Montgomery County were lower than those in Prince George’s County. The department’s net effective rent, the rate after tenant allowances and other landlord costs, is $30.77 per square foot, the GSA said.

I don't see anything about a subsidy, maybe that's what the tenant allowance was? Given that the article in question was written as a column as opposed to an article, it's kind of hard to really take what he said seriously without some proof. I followed that situation with HHS pretty closely and that was the first time that I heard such a thing.

I also don't see how he drew the conclusion that PG was more transit-friendly. What is that based on because one would argue that they are about equal.

[phlinak]

Originally Posted by pgtitans

It's much more than that. It's not just how much taxes you are taking in, it's also the type of taxes you are taking in. Prince George's County for example is taking in mostly residential taxes, which doesn't equate to the same amount as commercial taxes. In other counties the balance between the two is greater and as a result they have better services or at least more money to put towards those services.

The other factor is where the money is actually going. You can put a ton of money into your county by way of taxes, but if the people who are in charge of the money are making poor decisions then it really doesn't matter. Bottom line, getting more taxes from residents doesn't mean your services will be better.

I understand that, but my point is that although you might not always get the best or even better services, at least, you get services. The same cannot be said here in Alaska, with few exceptions. Many of us would be glad to pay higher taxes, within reason, just to get basic services (paid 24/7 emergency services, pre-K in the schools, plowed roads, etc.)

[adelphi_sky]

Originally Posted by phlinak

I understand that, but my point is that although you might not always get the best or even better services, at least, you get services. The same cannot be said here in Alaska, with few exceptions. Many of us would be glad to pay higher taxes, within reason, just to get basic services (paid 24/7 emergency services, pre-K in the schools, plowed roads, etc.)

I visited Alaska back in 2007. Wasilla of all places. :-) We took a tour up to Talkeetna and walked on Mt. McKinley. I can agree that there are few paved roads. Some places we drove, you were lucky if you didn't get stuck, because it may take a search party to find you. I also heard that building houses in the "rural" areas are expensive because the materials have to be flown in? At any rate, taxes would do Alaska a lot of good.

[phlinak]

Originally Posted by adelphi_sky

I visited Alaska back in 2007. Wasilla of all places. :-) We took a tour up to Talkeetna and walked on Mt. McKinley. I can agree that there are few paved roads. Some places we drove, you were lucky if you didn't get stuck, because it may take a search party to find you. I also heard that building houses in the "rural" areas are expensive because the materials have to be flown in? At any rate, taxes would do Alaska a lot of good.

Thank you for your supporting comment.