[mustmove]

Ed spending is 50% of the budget and that is a fact. School budgets have gone up over the last ten years as the number of school children has gone down. Is the cost because of the unions? Maybe maybe not, compared to NY teachers aren't paid a lot in VT but there are a lot of school employees. Not all of the 'VT has a ... problem' is opinion.

[Sherylcatmom]

Originally Posted by mustmove

Not all of the 'VT has a ... problem' is opinion.

I agree. If you thought that's what I meant, I'm not paying enough attention to my posts. My assertions: 1. VT is cold & expensive and, to many, worth it. 2. A lot of opinion is asserted as fact. When the discussion gets more complex than assertion 1, it seems to quickly spiral into a combination of verifiable fact and opinion stated as fact.

[Logs and Dogs]

Originally Posted by Sherylcatmom

I agree. If you thought that's what I meant, I'm not paying enough attention to my posts. My assertions: 1. VT is cold & expensive and, to many, worth it. 2. A lot of opinion is asserted as fact. When the discussion gets more complex than assertion 1, it seems to quickly spiral into a combination of verifiable fact and opinion stated as fact.

Kinda sounds like anything on the webernet.

Anytime you talk about taxes there are simple facts given a certain circumstance (ie. this town, this income, this assessed value, etc.) where the rate is the rate. When it comes to “why?” is where we enter into the opinion zone. I think many opinions on the why may be based in some fact however tax policy is usually death by 1000 paper cuts, and it is impossible to talk about tax policy and not touch on politics, which then becomes very opinion laden. The nature of the beast.

[arctichomesteader]

Originally Posted by acentre

Any changes to Property taxes and education have to be done on a National level, why should one state take care of it citizens better than other? Why stop at teacher unions, how about police, fire, sanitation, and all government workers? The problem is not the unions, but rather, they only care about themselves. Their benefits should be available to all. I started and sold a business, nobody protested my loss of benefits.
We all stand together in this country, or do it alone. I am prepared to do it alone....

Only if a constitutional amendment were passed on property taxes or education. All the feds can do on either is offer money with strings attached to get what they want.

I was a teacher for a short time. I've seen the system from the inside. The unions have to go. A Rhode Island town just fired all their unionized teachers, we should do the same. Back when Calvin Coolidge got elected as governor of MA and unionized Boston police went on strike, he fired every single one of them. Unions don't belong in public sector jobs.

[arctichomesteader]

Originally Posted by jackmccullough

I'm struck by how often discussion threads about life in Vermont turn into political platforms for attacks on the working people of the country (i.e. unions), progressive social policies, and the cultural choices of some of the people who live in Vermont.

Wouldn't it have been possible to answer the OP's question about property taxes in Vermont, which was a request for information, without embarking on yet another stream of criticism of all those things that a certain few members disapprove of in Vermont's policies?

Well you can't answer why property taxes are high without pointing out the out of control education spending, and why that's out of control. The budget issues right now causing the legislature to increase taxes and cut long standing breaks on property taxes are absolute proof there's a major problem with what's going on. This isn't opinion in the least.

[Sherylcatmom]

Originally Posted by arctichomesteader

Well you can't answer why property taxes are high without pointing out the out of control education spending, and why that's out of control.

You can. Assuming this is true, it's an example of a fact:
"Only if a constitutional amendment were passed on property taxes or education. All the feds can do on either is offer money with strings attached to get what they want."

Whereas this is an example of an opinion stated as if it's a fact:
"The unions have to go. (snip) Unions don't belong in public sector jobs."

[arctichomesteader]

Originally Posted by Sherylcatmom

You can. Assuming this is true, it's an example of a fact:
"Only if a constitutional amendment were passed on property taxes or education. All the feds can do on either is offer money with strings attached to get what they want."

Whereas this is an example of an opinion:
"The unions have to go. (snip) Unions don't belong in public sector jobs."

Well...the reason education spending is through the roof is because of the unions, which won't budge an inch. Since they're unwilling to accept the cuts necessary, they have to go. They wouldn't have to go if they'd accept the reality that we need to make major cuts.

[jackmccullough]

Originally Posted by arctichomesteader

Well you can't answer why property taxes are high without pointing out the out of control education spending, and why that's out of control. The budget issues right now causing the legislature to increase taxes and cut long standing breaks on property taxes are absolute proof there's a major problem with what's going on. This isn't opinion in the least.

Here's the original post:

We are planning to retire to VT, are the property taxes based upon income?
It does seem that they are much lower than NY and VT affords low cost heathcare for those on limited incomes.

Did you notice that the original post didn't ask anything about why things are the way they are? That might have been a clue that they weren't asking for your political views on why they are the way they are, or how they should be.

[arctichomesteader]

Originally Posted by jackmccullough

Here's the original post:



Did you notice that the original post didn't ask anything about why things are the way they are? That might have been a clue that they weren't asking for your political views on why they are the way they are, or how they should be.

And the question was raised after that was answered...

[vter]

UGH. Seriously? I have asked numerous times to keep posts on topic and not turn them into political rants/raves whatever. We have a whole new thread dedicated to that. Please use that.
I hope the OP has gotten some answers.