Tech Park seeing big improvements, big plans! (Charleston, Huntington: best city, crime)

[mensaguy]

Originally Posted by CTMountaineer

That's the downside of having a large public or non profit presence. It provides thousands of jobs, but the property aspect detracts from the tax base. You just can't have everything. I think the question you have to ask yourself is where would Charleston be without those thousands of state jobs providing money for people to pay mortgates, rents, and buy items in local establishments? How many property taxes for homes would go unpaid if not for state government?

And, wasn't it Charleston that pushed for some kind of law that guarantees that the head offices of all state agencies will be located there? Push to repeal that law, and some of those buildings could be put back on the commercial market. In this digital age, there is no logical reason that all the offices have to be there anyway. They could spread some of that tax money back around by putting some of them in Huntington, some in Wheeling, and some in Fairmont.

My personal opinion is that the state should offer the city some $$$ to compensate for the buildings removed from the tax rolls in exchange for Charleston repealing the User Fee (tax).

No, Charleston did not push for some kind of law. The State Constitution requires government departments to be headquartered in the Capital city. Somebody else on here tried to put the blame for that on Charleston in another thread, so I went and looked it up.

I think there is adequate reason to make Cabinet Secretaries, Commissioners, Executive Directors, etc., located fairly close to the Capitol so they can be gathered together for meetings, hearings, etc., but that no longer requires them to be in Charleston (maybe Kanawha County). That being said, nothing prevents all the Highways Engineers from being somewhere else as long as the Highways Commissioner and the Secretary of Transportation are located in Charleston.

[CTMountaineer]

Well, just to point out (not trying to start any arguments) Charleston might lose taxable property when the state owns the land, but it also has the advantage of having 7,000 state workers working in their town due to that property being located there. I'd say that is a fair tradeoff. Why should Charleston be compensated further at the expense of taxpayers from all over the state?

[mensaguy]

Originally Posted by CTMountaineer

Well, just to point out (not trying to start any arguments) Charleston might lose taxable property when the state owns the land, but it also has the advantage of having 7,000 state workers working in their town due to that property being located there. I'd say that is a fair tradeoff. Why should Charleston be compensated further at the expense of taxpayers from all over the state?

The User Fee got started because those people come into the city, use the roads to go to work, and then leave without spending any money.

Charleston is making money right now from the people who come to work at the Capitol Complex and then drive back to Teays Valley to go home.

[CTMountaineer]

Okay, then that more than compensates for losing a few buildings from the property tax roles, which affects Kanawha County more than it does the Ciey of Charleston anyway.

[mensaguy]

Originally Posted by CTMountaineer

Okay, then that more than compensates for losing a few buildings from the property tax roles, which affects Kanawha County more than it does the Ciey of Charleston anyway.

It absolutely does not, if you happen to be one of those people who work at the Capitol and live somewhere else. We got taxed without representation. There's a lot more to it than property taxes. Business taxes like B&O, go primarily to the city. This is a LOT of business real estate. Not just a few 2 story office buildings.

[CTMountaineer]

Of course you are right, and I agree with you. I'm saying Charleston gets way more than it loses out of the arrangement, not that you guys are getting a fair shake from Charleston, which I believe you are not. They turned down user fees here in Morgantown, and I am glad they did that. If Charleston doesn't want those folks working there, all they have to do is put the word out. There are plenty of other towns that would be glad to get those jobs without levying such taxes on non residents who have no representation in local government. I have a hunch there is vacant office space in some of those towns too.

[drs72]

Originally Posted by Chriscross309

I guess you can say that Charleston is also the state's insurance and law capital aswell.

Yep. We had a guest speaker in one of my classes this semester that talked to us about practicing law. He told us that it's a primarily urban-based profession and cited that approximately 60% of West Virginia's lawyers operate out of Charleston.

[CTMountaineer]

It's where most of the court activity is located since the state capital is there. Charleston is a good place for them... just kidding.

[Chriscross309]

Kanawha Valley Tech and Community College will be a great addition to the tech park.

Tech park, community college excited by school's move* - News - The Charleston Gazette - West Virginia News and Sports -

[CTMountaineer]

Originally Posted by Chriscross309

Why do you twist my points into meaning things they don't. Simply put Charleston isn't getting some huge chunck of funding that is unfair to the rest of the state. It gets what it deserves, and sometimes there isn't enough to support that. If there was shove ready projects that could take advantage of recourses we have here in WV, i'm sure we'd atleast see an effort by someone to push for it. But just because Charleston has projects like this, doesn't mean that it is somehow unfair or unrightfully spent. If Fairmont had some old property that could be reused, don't you think we'd here about it. Yes we would, and there would be a strong push for it. Sorry that there happens to be a perfectly good facility here in Charleston that could attract new business and thousands of jobs. Should have found somewhere else to use that money.

And about city size, why don't you understand that I'm not talking about a bunch of little towns, but one unit. I'm not even talking about there individual character, but that they are all stacked together and when added together make quite an urban center. One clustered unit of housing, industry, and other forms of development that is not seen anywhere else in WV. The NCWV area that by your estimates has almost 200k is mostly rural and takes up more than 4 counties. You can get that many people on a short stretch of I-64 that is all together and dence. No farms, wastelands, or forests, just development. ... There is everything here, and all other WV cities have a few things. Morgantown has alot for a town its size, but it doesn't have everything a city needs. Charleston has all the convience a city has, and yet is still smaller than most. That is why a project like this one is important. Because it will help grow the depth and diversity of Charleston's economy which will in return strengthen our state's total economy.

Chris, please. So you are suggesting that because we have some green space between our towns and your little villages are cramed along the Kanawha that makes them some kind of metropolis (we won't mention the green space between Dupont and Montgomery)? And, that you have everything right there in little 50,000 resident Charleston while we somehow have less? Right. I find that absolutely amazing. In fact, I know you just can't really mean that. Name one thing you have there that isn't readily available here, or available at a far better level an hour from here.
Remember, I have spent substantial time in both towns and was married to one of your fellow Kanawhans (we have two kids too), so I am anxiously awaiting your answer.

If you are going to come back with "we have more bank offices", I'll simply say that's nice, we have more pharmaceutical offices. And, if you are going to say "more energy companies have offices here", I'll agree with that, but point out they have a lot more activity in this area. Our entertainment industry is at least as good as yours and probably better, our sports offerings are far superior, our restaurants are comparable, we have closer proximity to outstanding outdoor venues, and the quality of our core jobs is at least on a par with yours. The medical establishments of the two communities are comparable, but ours has the advantage of being co-located with the state's primary medical teaching facilities.

We have many times better educational opportunities available here, but our biggest advantage is LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION. We are, in fact, actually located near major population centers, and major wet gas producing areas while Charleston is basically an island unto itself. Yes, you have a better airport, but that is only because there isn't a real one located within 4 hours of the place.

My ex actually got over her feeling that Charleston was some kind of metropolis when she got out and spent some time in the rest of the country, but for some strange reason residents there in general are afflicted with that idology that says they are at least a major part of the country's universe, if not a focal point, and the rest of the state (which encompasses 85% of the state's population) somehow revolves around the place. Since I'm not from there, I hope you will forgive me for feeling that is more than a just a little far fetched.