Marylanders Flee O'Malleys Tax Hikes - $1.7B in lost revenue from 2007-2010

[North Beach Person]

Originally Posted by anthonydr2

Wow, after reading this, I'm thinking it may make more sense to move to Pennsylvania and commute to work in zip code 21030. It seems there are places to live within 20-30 miles of the office without the degree of state tax (Pennsylvania seems half that of MD) and without the vitriol towards those less into a "share your wealth" mentality as well.

Am I missing something here? Or, is it reasonable to include southern Pennsylvania to our search??

Quite a few people live in southern PA and commute to jobs in the Metro DC/Baltimore area. While PA's State Income Tax is lower (3% or so) property taxes in PA can be higher as a % of assessed value than in MD. PA sales tax also covers fewer items than MD (for example clothes in PA are not taxed while they are in MD). PA also has some weird local taxes.

School systems in PA are basedon locales (Gettysburg Area School District, for example) while in MD they are County based systems.

In PA the Boro/Township have their property taxes and the school system has a separate tax rate and taxing authority. In MD the County government collects property taxes and remits them to the school systems, the school board has no separate taxing authority. MD Towns also have separate taxing authority but the County governments are the main local governing bodies. Except for a couple instances PA Counties have little authority, mostly over the Court and jail systems.

Edit: MD State Income Tax is on a sliding scale. What most people miss is that you have the State tax rate and the Counties then have what's called a Piggyback Income Tax on top of that which ranges from 15% to 60%, depending on the County. That makes the effective income tax rate as high as 10% on top earners.

[andrew_s]

Excuse my ignorance but WTH is a boro/township? Is it another word for county or is it a city based jurisdiction? Again sorry for the ignorance on the subject.

[North Beach Person]

Originally Posted by andrew_s

Excuse my ignorance but WTH is a boro/township? Is it another word for county or is it a city based jurisdiction? Again sorry for the ignorance on the subject.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borough_(Pennsylvania)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Township_(Pennsylvania)


The main forms of local government in PA. The school systems are separate entities. Except for a couple of exceptions Counties are minor players in PA, mainly concerned with the Court system.

[andrew_s]

Well thats plain wierd. So that means that a city can be broken up into subdivisions and further segregate progress to certain areas. Seems kinda weird to me but hey if it works it works. I just always grew up with city < county < state...

[North Beach Person]

Originally Posted by andrew_s

Well thats plain wierd. So that means that a city can be broken up into subdivisions and further segregate progress to certain areas. Seems kinda weird to me but hey if it works it works. I just always grew up with city < county < state...

No, not really. Like MD PA would have incorporated towns (boros). Outside of those would be Townships within a County. PA roads are primarily State roads so PennDOT takes care of those while the Townships take care of the others. Towns, of course, maintain their own


Remember, too, that MD didn't develop with a strong Town system (PA's system is very English) and since agriculture was different (plantation style in MD as opposed to small freeholders in PA) the governmental structures developed differently. That was partly a result of where, and who, settled in the respective states. Early on PA had a large influx of Scots-Irish who were the ones that went west to get away from the English (and Quakers) in Philadelphia. Think Whiskey Rebellion.

People moving to PA from MD have the most trouble with school systems. Except for a couple or four Counties (all rural) school systems are totally divorced from County boundaries and will cross those lines.

[andrew_s]

Originally Posted by North Beach Person

No, not really. Like MD PA would have incorporated towns (boros). Outside of those would be Townships within a County. PA roads are primarily State roads so PennDOT takes care of those while the Townships take care of the others. Towns, of course, maintain their own


Remember, too, that MD didn't develop with a strong Town system (PA's system is very English) and since agriculture was different (plantation style in MD as opposed to small freeholders in PA) the governmental structures developed differently. That was partly a result of where, and who, settled in the respective states. Early on PA had a large influx of Scots-Irish who were the ones that went west to get away from the English (and Quakers) in Philadelphia. Think Whiskey Rebellion.

People moving to PA from MD have the most trouble with school systems. Except for a couple or four Counties (all rural) school systems are totally divorced from County boundaries and will cross those lines.

...and I thought it couldn't get any weirder my mind has been blown with this idea. So they just determine by randomness??? Im sure there is a method to their mayhem but damn its weird.

[North Beach Person]

Originally Posted by andrew_s

...and I thought it couldn't get any weirder my mind has been blown with this idea. So they just determine by randomness??? Im sure there is a method to their mayhem but damn its weird.

There used to be even more school systems than the current 501. In the early 60's the state forced them to start consolidating around the biggest one in the area. I'll give you an example:

Jefferson County PA, Brookville Area School District.

The school system consolidated about 1962 to include Brookville (130 seniors), Sigel (15 Seniors), Summerville (21 Seniors), Warsaw (8 Seniors). The last 3 had all been independent from Brookville and were forced to merge. That was common in the rural areas. The last 3 also had all the grades in 1 building. I was in elementary at the time but I remember older cousins (from all 4 systems) and their parents doing nothing but complain.

Again, alot of PA's governmental forms date from colonial times and show the difference from more southern states' settlement patterns and agricultural bases.

[andrew_s]

Good info. Strange but interesting to see the differences going north (however close they are) can show us. I wonder how many other states function like this? Google search time? maybe.

[North Beach Person]

Most of the Northeastern ones. Which will now re-ignite "Is Maryland a Southern State"?

[andrew_s]

Haha no thats even more off topic then we already are and I no longer feel the need to argue my culture as I know who I and my family are.

I have been searching it seems to be pretty spread out every southern state (minus OK, TX, AR, LA) I have seen so far has county based, southwest seems to as well (minus California). Seems the northeast, midwest have districts from my quick search and do not use counties as a basis for school districts. Pretty cool info about how despite being a melting poit regions still retain some differences, that in my opinion, make us great.