Woodland Hills School Tax Hike--Outrageous (York, Rankin: insurance, credit, transfer)

[trackstar13]

Originally Posted by BMan_152

I always found this quite interesting.. It really seems like it should be the opposite, but it isn't..

Economics of scale doesn't seem to apply to taxation & I genuinely am confused why.. Perhaps someone more familiar with the economics of government could explain why this is the case??

I mean shouldn't taxes be more expensive in rural areas than cities? My reasoning is as follows:
-More miles of road to maintain per person in rural areas
-School districts require more bussing
-EMS/police/fire require greater densities per person (since everything is so spread out)
-Transportation of goods is likely more expensive (due to cargo hubs being in urban areas)
-Construction projects are likely more expensive (due to less competition in bidding)

Perhaps I'm missing something? Do taxes in urban areas fund additional things that rural taxes don't?

There is actually a simple answer to this and sadly it is that people in rural areas do not pay their fair share. For instance, how often does someone living in the city of Pittsburgh use the services of the PA state police? Now if you ask that same question of someone living in a rural area surrounding Pittsburgh without a police force, the answer would be different. This is one of the reasons that Governor Wolf has a proposal for a per person state police annual tax for rural areas where the state police patrol. Many of the services and much of the infrastructure in rural areas of PA is subsidized by those living in cities.

[gg]

Originally Posted by trackstar13

What are you talking about? I pay more than $5,000 per year for property taxes in Erie and my house is assessed for less than $160,000. There are high property taxes in many areas of PA and the city of Erie teacher pay is much lower than many "red" areas in the county. Not sure why you think teachers and democrats are the issues that cause higher taxes. I know for Erie the issue is simply not enough students or taxable property and as the area continues to lose population the schools continue to have funding issues and there are less people to pay the same amount of taxes.

What are you talking about? Erie County almost ALWAYS votes blue if you look at its history. Voting a couple times red doesn't make it red. Erie is most often a blue county, therefore it will be more expensive to live there.

[trackstar13]

Originally Posted by gg

What are you talking about? Erie County almost ALWAYS votes blue if you look at its history. Voting a couple times red doesn't make it red. Erie is most often a blue county, therefore it will be more expensive to live there.

Why are you so obsessed with school teacher pay and blue vs. red?

[sparrowmint]

Originally Posted by gg

We are approaching $70K a year. People love to compare that to other jobs that work ALL year long and have NO holidays off. I find that amusing. Teachers get EVERY holiday off! Um summer? Hello? Get out of work around 4pm every day? Nice! Lets not get carried away. Yes, in NC or WV they aren't making enough money, but lets get real around here. In my district plenty are making well over 90K or more for a part-time job. Kids today are a piece of cake compared to my generation when kids actually had to think of ways to entertain themselves. Now kids are just fat and lazy because of their addiction to media. No energy equals easy.

You are beyond ignorant about what kids are like in the classroom. Go work in a classroom that draws from Woodland Hills (or similar) for even just two hours. You'd leave crying. Most teachers in Allegheny County are not working in Fox Chapel or comparable. But the teachers in Fox Chapel have to deal with something worse than the kids in Woodland Hills: rich helicopter parents.

[Copanut]

Originally Posted by sparrowmint

You are beyond ignorant about what kids are like in the classroom. Go work in a classroom that draws from Woodland Hills (or similar) for even just two hours. You'd leave crying. Most teachers in Allegheny County are not working in Fox Chapel or comparable. But the teachers in Fox Chapel have to deal with something worse than the kids in Woodland Hills: rich helicopter parents.

I have quite a few teacher friends. There are times when I think they whine a little, but overall, that is one tough job, especially today. Dealing with parents, entitled kids, everybody's special, no thanks. And that part time job stuff gets old. If it bugs gg so much, go get your teaching cert and get on the gravy train.

[stburr91]

Originally Posted by Copanut

I have quite a few teacher friends. There are times when I think they whine a little, but overall, that is one tough job, especially today. Dealing with parents, entitled kids, everybody's special, no thanks. And that part time job stuff gets old. If it bugs gg so much, go get your teaching cert and get on the gravy train.

There is no doubt that dealing with the kids, and parents of today would get old quick, but the truth of the matter is that a significant percentage of the work force deal with more BS, and for a lot less money, and benefits. Heck, every weekend/holiday off, and two months paid vacation the moment you sign your first contract, that ain't a bad gig.

A former teacher/coach on here once said, when you factor in the benefits, especially the pension, teaching is one of the most lucrative professions in the region.

[Paul2421]

Originally Posted by stburr91

There is no doubt that dealing with the kids, and parents of today would get old quick, but the truth of the matter is that a significant percentage of the work force deal with more BS, and for a lot less money, and benefits. Heck, every weekend/holiday off, and two months paid vacation the moment you sign your first contract, that ain't a bad gig.

A former teacher/coach on here once said, when you factor in the benefits, especially the pension, teaching is one of the most lucrative professions in the region.

thus the sky high demand for positions like other lucrative professions.

[stburr91]

Originally Posted by Paul2421

thus the sky high demand for positions like other lucrative professions.

There are many hundreds of applications for every teaching positions in this region.

[MountainDewGuy]

Originally Posted by BMan_152

I always found this quite interesting.. It really seems like it should be the opposite, but it isn't..

Economics of scale doesn't seem to apply to taxation & I genuinely am confused why.. Perhaps someone more familiar with the economics of government could explain why this is the case??

I mean shouldn't taxes be more expensive in rural areas than cities? My reasoning is as follows:
-More miles of road to maintain per person in rural areas
-School districts require more bussing
-EMS/police/fire require greater densities per person (since everything is so spread out)
-Transportation of goods is likely more expensive (due to cargo hubs being in urban areas)
-Construction projects are likely more expensive (due to less competition in bidding)

Perhaps I'm missing something? Do taxes in urban areas fund additional things that rural taxes don't?

You could probably make an argument that efficiency means higher taxes because more things are done at the central level or at a larger scale, since they can be done better and less expensively.

[BMan_152]

Originally Posted by trackstar13

There is actually a simple answer to this and sadly it is that people in rural areas do not pay their fair share. For instance, how often does someone living in the city of Pittsburgh use the services of the PA state police? Now if you ask that same question of someone living in a rural area surrounding Pittsburgh without a police force, the answer would be different. This is one of the reasons that Governor Wolf has a proposal for a per person state police annual tax for rural areas where the state police patrol. Many of the services and much of the infrastructure in rural areas of PA is subsidized by those living in cities.

Ahh. that makes sense.. Never quite realized that rural areas rely heavier on state services. Come to think of it, there do seem to be more state maintained roads in the rural areas. Thanks!!

Originally Posted by MountainDewGuy

You could probably make an argument that efficiency means higher taxes because more things are done at the central level or at a larger scale, since they can be done better and less expensively.

Perhaps I'm misunderstanding what you're trying to say, but wouldn't something being done less expensively and at a larger scale equate to lower taxes?