"This $2.4 million is an enormous amount," said school board president Jo Posti. "To give the public an idea of how large, our staffing review team estimated something as drastic as closing an elementary school would only save $1.1 million."
And while we're at it, let's give Tim Steinhauer another raise and more vacation time. Of course, Upper St. Clair's Superintendent Dr. Patrick O'Toole was named the 2012 PA Superintendent of the Year and will compete for the national award.
None of this is making any sense to me. I guess I should relax. The District has it covered. They want input from the community.
*******
Lebo schools facing $2.4 million budget shortfall
By Nick Lewandowski For The Almanac writer@thealmanac.net
Mt. Lebanon School District was unusually fortunate to have been spared both tax increases and cost-cutting in the 2011-2012 school year. The same will not hold true in 2012-2013.
At the Dec. 12 school board meeting director of fiscal services Jan Klein explained the district is facing a $2.4 million shortfall, largely due to rising pension costs.
State-mandated pension contributions are 43 percent higher for that school year, a significant financial strain for school districts which have salaries and benefits as their largest operating costs. In Mt. Lebanon these account for some 70 percent of the budget.
"This $2.4 million is an enormous amount," said school board president Jo Posti. "To give the public an idea of how large, our staffing review team estimated something as drastic as closing an elementary school would only save $1.1 million."
Hence the district faces the classic dilemma: raise taxes or cut programming.
The problem is compounded by the fact 2012 is a presidential election year, which has shortened the budget timeline. In January state law requires the board to either pass a preliminary budget or a resolution not to increase millage beyond an amount specified by an inflationary index.
According to Klein, tax increases up to the limit imposed by the index would still leave the district's budget at least $1.4 million out of balance.
By passing a preliminary budget, the board would preserve its right to apply for exceptions from the state from that limit, allowing it to raise taxes further to cover costs such as pension contributions. Klein said this could bring the district within $250,000 of a balanced budget.
Board member Dale Ostergaard urged the board to look beyond 2012-2013, however.
"This pension spike is likely to increase for the next few years," he said. "Over the next four years we could face a $9.7 million shortfall. That would require us to raise taxes about 4.5 mills."
A single mill is equivalent to $100 of property tax on a home valued at $100,000.
Ostergaard argued relying solely on tax increases to make up for the shortfall would be too heavy burden on the community. "We need to accept the fact that change to programs and operations must happen over the next four years," he said.
Board member Mary Birks disagreed.
"I would caution this board against making any long-term decision (that would impact programming)," she said. "Remember this impact's not only the value of our children's education but also of our homes."
Complicating matters is the fact that there are still major uncertainties regarding costs for 2012-2013--never mind the four following years. The district still has yet to receive student course selections, for example, and it does not know the cost of healthcare.
On top of that there is concern about the county property assessment. Property assessments play a critical role in determining real estate tax revenue, and there is a chance the latest round will not be completed by the time the board must pass a budget.
By evening's end the board reached a general consensus that it would be better to pass a preliminary budget in January, preserving its ability to raise taxes beyond the index. Board members were also keen on establishing a forum or ad hoc committee to get input from the community.
Board member Mary Birks disagreed.
ReplyDelete"I would caution this board against making any long-term decision (that would impact programming)," she said. "Remember this impact's not only the value of our children's education but also of our homes."
Yeah, Board, don't make any long-term decision. Just live in the here and now...And now she's worried about home values? So when our campaign pointed out the potential negative impact to property values because of irresponsbile spending, it was labeled "dirty politics", yet Birks says it and it's somehow gospel? So which is it, Miss Birks? And no long-term decision? What the hell do you think the high school project is?
The dishonesty, arrogance and outright incompetence with these Board members continues. Someday, the sunlight will penetrate the dark pall they've cast over this community. I just hope it happens before the statute of limitations runs it course because I want these people to pay for their actions.
Here's a clear message for the nine miscreants: I'm not going away. Ever. In fact, I'm just getting warmed up. You have made a huge mistake in taking personal shots at me, those who supported me and anyone else who didn't drink your Kool-Aid. My response to bullies isn't usually this measured and civil.
James,you have the support of a lot of people here in Mt. Lebanon.
ReplyDeleteI am unhappier than ever. Nello's lowball number saved the project.
Elaine
OK people, I know I may not be the brightess tool in the shed, but explain these 2 newspaper articles to me.
ReplyDeleteKeeping in mind Ms. Birk's warning of course - "I would caution this board against making any long-term decision."
So here's what I need diagrammed out.
Matthew Santoni of the Trib, headlines his article: "Mt. Lebanon High School renovation bids within budget." Yes, the bids are indeed under $113 million Act 34 limit, I understand that.
But gee, school board president Jo Posti's comments in the Almanac: "This $2.4 million is an enormous amount," said school board president Jo Posti. "To give the public an idea of how large, our staffing review team estimated something as drastic as closing an elementary school would only save $1.1 million."
That's just great, we're under "A" budget but the "BIG ALL IMPORTANT" budget (the one that impacts our kids education most) is $2.4 million short just this year and probably will be just as short every year for years!
I can see similar logic flying in our house now... "hey hon, see ya, I'm off on that long golfing excursion with the guys to Myrtle Beach and Pinehurst! Its a couple hundred dollars less than we thought!"
"Oh, don't worry about the household budget... the kids can always go to a cheaper college!"
"How about hittin' up your Uncle Sam for another check!?"
Yep, sure glad we replaced that worn out sofa last year!
Giffen Good
Birks doesn't mess with Kool-Aid. She voted against the Board's Alcohol Policy and abstained from voting on the Drug Abuse Policy.
ReplyDeleteShe said kids make mistakes when she voted against the Alcohol Policy and abstained from the Drug Abuse Policy because she brought forward the language from another board. That didn't make any sense to me but it doesn't make any sense that Birks says she is a Child Advocate and votes against two substance abuse policies.
Mr. Good,
ReplyDeleteWe will soon replace worn out teachers. Bill Hook
Of course Mrs. Birks is admonishing the board not to make make any long term decisions regarding school closing, programming etc.
ReplyDeleteAll school district expendituires for 2011-2012 according to the board's five year forecast totalled $78,347,833.
Looking forward in the report to 2016-17 salaries and fringe benefits (locked in by current contracts essentially) - mind you - just salaries and fringes are projected to be $72,166,478!
If we're $2.4 million short next year, what will we be short in 2016-17?
All together now (sung to Strawberry Fields)...
"Livin' is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see...
...McNeilly Fields Forever!"
Giffen Good
Gif, did you forget the rest of the lyrics.
ReplyDelete"Let me take you down,
to McNeilly Road Fields,
where nothing is real
and nothing to get hot about...
McNeilly Fields Forever!"
Dick Saunders
One of the most important features of the later stages of capitalist civilization is the vigorous expansion of the educational apparatus and particularly of the facilities for higher education......
ReplyDeleteInasmuch as higher education thus increases the supply of services in professional, quasi-professional and in the end all 'white collar' lines beyond the point determined by cost-return considerations, it may create a particularly important case of sectional unemployment....
It may create unemployability of a particularly disconcerting type . [such a person] becomes psychically unemployable in manual occupations without necessarily acquiring employability in, say, professional work . . . due to either lack of natural ability - perfectly compatible with passing academic tests - or to inadequate teaching. Both cases will . . . occur more frequently as ever larger numbers are drafted into higher education.
All those who are unemployed or unsatisfactorily employed or unemployable drift into vocations in which standards are least definite or in which aptitudes and acquirements of a different order count. They swell the host of intellectuals in the strict sense of the term whose numbers swell disproportionately. They enter it in a thoroughly discontented frame of mind. Discontent breeds resentment.
Joseph Schumpeter
The world needs ditch diggers too Danny.
ReplyDeleteTy Webb
TODAY'S HEADLINES
ReplyDeleteHEAD OF THE CLASS
* Report: New technologies have transformed today's learners
ELEARNING
* Is the switch to digital school texts imminent?
SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT
* How should teachers be prepared for online instruction?
I wonder where all the teachers will go once online and virtual classes become the standard?
Giffen Good
Well, parking shouldn't be an issue anymore. We wouldn't need a shared parking agreement either.
ReplyDeleteElaine
"Bring Your Own Technology" should yield many exciting improvements in education. Parents who buy their children an iPad can eliminate many of the heavy text books that children carry to school in a backpack because many textbooks can be loaded into the iPad.
ReplyDeleteI understand books can be downloaded now from our high school library now, and I remember Mrs. Walton asking the Board when the school would go "book-less". Will this will be an issue in the new Strategic Plan?
John
P.S. We all now know the District can't afford to buy the iPads.
ReplyDeleteJohn
Elaine, here's a suggestion you might want to develop a poll for that no one has mntioned yet. Maybe it will help the board as it investigates budget shortfall solutions
ReplyDeleteIf it becomes necessary to shutter a school building, which would you select?
I vote for Foster... here's why?
I'm thinking it allows for 5 maybe 6 fairly expensive homes on the property. If you want to attract new affluent families the surrounding neighborhood is certainly more desirable than say Sunset Hills. Six $300,000 to $700,000 homes would net the school district around $60,000 or so in new revenue. In the price range there is also more margin than in a $180,000 to $200,000 house. Earned income would probably net more too.
My second choice is Lincoln. This is a property that might be business friendly and is on a main traffic corridor. We could have one of the first Walmart mini-stores in the area.
Wonder what others think?
Giffen Good
Oh. remember the board is interested in getting input from the community... RIGHT? ;-)
ReplyDeleteGiffen Good
Well, it goes without saying that Lincoln could be the site for another Dollar General. Ugh! :)
ReplyDeleteI certainly don't want Foster to close. That is in my neighborhood!
Elaine
I think you are onto something, Giffen. The game appears to be to force out the lower income residents, including school-aged children, and build a tax structure that only the elite can afford. In other words, those who cannot afford to live here anymore should just move on down the road and let someone with a deeper pocket move in. The elites can then purchase the available cheaper housing from the have-nots, perhaps as a rental property, and generate an income from that rental property with the option to sell the property off sometime later down the road. This can be managed from any location in the world – Florida, North Carolina, the Villages whatever.
ReplyDeleteIt may not be intentional social engineering, but for all the intelligence our Board proclaims to encompass as per Mr. Remely’s proud remarks at the recent discussion meeting, there is certainly a cold distinction between the have and have not’s taking place through the Boards policy and decision making processes.
So, I vote to close Lincoln and turn it into Saks Fifth Avenue. The access to downtown for the young childless professionals (they won’t require school district support and will have more EIT to fork over to the municipality to pay for our leaf collection or McNeilly Park or something that our agenda-driven residents want for themselves) is a no-brainer.
So, Dr. Steinhauer and Mt. Lebanon Board of School Directors:
What did you do today to improve the life of a child?
- Wilma Zellers (Married to William Zellers, apparent Mt. Lebanon resident and noted author)
Interesting perspective Wilma.
ReplyDeleteSOmething I've always found curious is why (and I'll use Ms. Birk's comment as an example) do all issues regarding the school district end with - "this impacts not ONLY the valie of our children's education but also our homes."
Sure I understand the impact good schools have on the value of our properties.
Can we not create a good school district without the validation that it is good for our pocketbooks?
How about we maintain a good school system because its what we value and its the best thing we can do for our kids!
Isn't that enough or is it about the --- money???
Money, money, money!!!
Giffen Good
If I were a teacher eligible for retirement, I would retire quickly and withdraw a lump sum payment from the Pension Plan before the Legislature closes that option and forces me to live on a monthly payment that is dependent upon an underfunded PSERS.
ReplyDeleteIf 11 extra teachers retired in one year, and were not replaced, a $1.1 Million ongoing yearly savings would occur and no elementary school would need to be closed.
Has the $115,000 savings from a teacher not replaced occurred to a board member or the Superintendent yet? Of course it has, or Ms. Klein would not have publicized the savings in public. Remember it was announced that we have 10 teachers that are retirement eligible right now. The question is, do we really need to replace any of them if they all retire, or would we rather keep our seven elementary schools?
The problem with your supposition anon 7:16 pm is that according to the teacher's union we'd be losing the best teachers. I mean isn't that the union's rational for collective bargaining, jump steps and stance against individual teacher evaluations and testing.
ReplyDeleteSo once again, it all comes back to money. Retire your best, brightess and experienced staff and increase class sizes to save a few bucks.
Ooops. bumped up against another union argument that class sizes must be small to be effective. Damn!
Anon 7:16, the budget shortfall isn't $1.1 million, its $2.4 million!
ReplyDeleteSo your 11 retiring teachers would only cover half of the budget hole. We'd still need to close a school.
Early returns on the school closing poll suggest that Hoover kids are - the odd man out!
ReplyDeleteInteresting... bet thats good for the old home values!
A couple of things about closing Hoover - its the newest elementary school, as is Building C the newest building to go with the high school plan. They have a dysfunctional PTA.
ReplyDeleteSomeone suggested to me that we should sell Hoover to UPMC. It can be a sports rehab facility. It is close to the high school and the hospital.
ReplyDeleteElaine
Anon 8:17 PM:
ReplyDeleteThere are multiple dysfunctional Mt. Lebanon PTAs. Hoover is just one of the worst of the spoiled PTA bunch. Somehow, that smelly rotton Hoover strawberry spread like wildfire into the collective Mt. Lebanon PTA fruit salad and then some...but where did the disgusting spoilage originate? Could it be some self-imposed grandiose -thinking "higher" authority in Mt. Lebanon? Hmmm.....
Selling Hoover to UPMC doesn't increase the district tax revenue as UPMC is a non-profit.
ReplyDeleteI supoose you could rent it to them.
Hoover? Anon is right--that's the newest school. Why tear it down? Why not go with Lincoln? Sell the land to a retailer for a shop or a restaurant. Better yet, get rid of Washington and open it up to development along our "business corridor". Oh, wait, that just won't work. I mean, in the infamous words of our oh-so-urbane school board president, "Ugh--how ghetto"...
ReplyDeleteGiffen,
ReplyDeleteLike our health care system today and this Mt. Lebanon cabal A.K.A. Board of School Directors, it’s all about the money. Time to snub those pesky families hoping to afford quality education for their children. As Director Birks once proclaimed, she “just couldn’t listen to the stories anymore.” Director Birks, as you are reading this, what did you do today to improve the life of a child? Can you spell V-O-U-C-H-E-R?? If your are not part of the solution, you must indeed be part of the problem.
- Wilma Zellers
No, we don't have to close a school. Remember Director O. said a middle ground is to put half the budget hole on the District and the other half on the Taxpayers. Therefore, I only dealt with the half on the District -
ReplyDelete11 teachers not replaced equals a savings of $1,256,000 or half of the $2,400,000 hole. No school is closed.
Eliminating 11 out of 400+ teachers by retirement is not losing your best teachers, it is retiring teachers by attrition and that, according to the USC Superintendent is permitted under the School Code. The increased class size of eliminating 11 teachers is very small and would not change our learning environment if spread over several teaching disciplines.
Wilma, Pell Grants are vouchers at the college level. What is Ms. Birks trying to say?
ReplyDeleteAnon 9:43, I don't know this as fact so I'll stand corrected if I'm wrong. The teachers with most years are the highest paid according to union scale, making them at least by salary your most valuable.
ReplyDeleteIf your premise is correct as to the minimal affect of 11 fewer teachers as enrollment has declined shouldn't staffing (teachers as well as administrators) declined too over the years?
Just just 2-3 pastured teachers and staffers would've save us $200,000-300,000 every year for the last 4 years or so.
Anon 9:57:
ReplyDeleteI don’t think there is any connection between Ms. Birks’ statement and Pell Grants. My guess is that she is solely focused on the sports lobby, which was a powerful lobby to her election effort and potential scholarship opportunities for the “haves” who can afford all the associated fees with sports participation. She lacks perspective respective to the masses in Mt. Lebanon. The Pell Grant is Federal Aid program and, according to her track record, I see no reason to believe that she gives a hoot about Pell Grants. She appears to be a sheepskin elitist taking care of her own.
-Wilma Zellers
Anon 10:10, your highest paid teachers may or may not be your best teachers because your salary increases based upon your time in the District. Each year you are here your salary goes up as long as you receive a satisfactory teaching rating. When you are on Step 16 your earnings are the highest paid under contract but you may, or may not, be one of the best teachers. I know a teacher in another district who was awarded "Teacher of the Year" in her third year of teaching. So if we retire teachers who have served here 30 years we may or may not be retiring a best teacher. We just know they have received satisfactory ratings during their career. Fortunately, in Mount Lebanon a satisfactory rating is a good rating.
ReplyDeleteAnon 9:43 how is that meeting half way?
ReplyDeleteWe lose qualified teachers and pay higher taxes!
Seems like a lose, lose for the stakeholders.
Kinda of like haggling with a car dealer for a new vehicle.
The salemen says lets compromise! We'll leave off a few options and you'll pay a few more dollars! Deal?
Besides, we haven't floated the second bond for the HS yet.
Thank you anon 11:05 for pointing that out!
ReplyDeleteAnon 11:22, you know your taxes are going up unless you expect the union to pay all the cost. I was just dealing wit Director O's middle-ground proposal and pointing out we really don't have to close an elementary school if the proposal is accepted. We could eliminate all the alternates and reduce the size of the tax increase if the Board will vote that way.
ReplyDeleteFor the record, I consider our teachers way above the level of car salesman.
Yesterday I read the article in the Post Gazette about Ben Cope's sentencing in the tragic death of Lisa Styles. Mr. Styles, who understandably has much to be angry about, noted, "We live in a world where we've punished and punished and punished and we've been more vengeful. And it's gotten us nowhere as a society."
ReplyDeletePretty amazing perspective from a man who has every reason to truly lash out at just about everything and everyone.
So as I read some of these comments, many of which are so spiteful that they would probably never be uttered in public without the veil of anonymity, I can't help but think that whether you're in favor of the high school or not; whether you're a fan of this board or not; whether you're on the board or not, whether you play a sport or not; or whether you have kids in school or not - we can ALL learn a lot from Mr. Styles.
Merry Christmas
Dave Franklin
The arguments about schools and property values often take on an emotional and contradictory component. The Mt. Lebanon School Board argues that high taxes support its superior school system and increase property values; the economist argues that very high school taxes decrease property values. Here are a few things to consider:
ReplyDelete1. The only absolutely reliable way to ascertain the value of any piece of property is to sell it.
2. Only three kinds of people are concerned about the increased value of their property: the person seeking a loan against its equity, the person selling it, and the government official taxing it. If you are one of those benighted souls who believes that a high assessment on a piece of property results in "the greatest good for the greatest number" then I will ask you if, when you purchased your Mt. Lebanon home, you insisted that the seller inflate the price?
3. The property tax is an archaic throwback to a time when people made their living off the land by farming, raising livestock, cutting timber, etc. In those cases the land is PRODUCTIVE, and taxing it made sense. Today most residential land is non-productive. A single family home on a lot of 60 x 120 feet produces nothing but crabgrass, and therefore the tax on it is fictitious.
4. Property does not pay taxes - people do, out of their incomes, and there is no causality between a person's income and the "value" of his property. For example, in 2011 a home "assessed" at $227,000 will require its owner(s) to cough up $8,190 in total property taxes (Allegheny County, Mt. Lebanon Municipal, and Mt. Lebanon School District). This represents 10.92% of a $75,000 family gross income, and 16.38% of a $50,000 family gross income. (When one considers that real estate taxes are paid not out of gross but NET income the percentages are even higher!) I often hear or read the argument that a family making something like our hypothetical $50,000 shouldn't have purchased a $227,000 home in Mt. Lebanon. The more likely event, however is that in the past a family bought its home for much less that $227,000, and over the years finds itself with an income that has not appreciated as much as its house.
5. Since property taxes are paid by people out of their incomes, the most logical tax would be one on incomes, with the total elimination of the property tax. I alluded to this once over on Blog Lebo, and was rebuffed quickly on the grounds that the School District would never be able to collect the kind of revenue it needs. But that argument fails because the property tax is paid out of income based on salary (or profits from self-employment) as it is. A tax on incomes is directly proportional to income, and therefore the more you make the more you pay. Not surprisingly, the people most opposed to this are the upper quintile.
6. The District and the Municipality should be forced to live within the means of the community, and not expect the community to provide the means for the District and Municipality to live. The means of the community may be easily determined by looking at the total reported income and profits in the Municipality. It is the income and profits of the people of a community that count - not the fictitious "value" of its residential property.
During the last MLSB meeting both Mr. Ostegaard and Mr. Goldman said some realistic and un-school-board like things: Mr. Ostegaard said that the current upward trend in property taxation cannot be sustained, and Mr. Goldman said that he fears for the well-being of those on fixed incomes. Both are to be congratulated for their honesty. This is the first time since the days of Jim Fraasch that anyone on the Board has had the courage to speak more than a sound-bite's worth of truth about what any thinking person knows to be economic reality in this District.
Richard Gideon
Anon 12:04, please tell me where I compared teachers to car salesman?
ReplyDeleteI was making a comparison about Mr. Ostergaard's suggested compromise. Not comparing teachers to car salesman.
And to Mr. Franklin, the Styles tragedy was a very unfornate accident and Mr. Styles is to be admired for his compassion and forgiveness. It is indeed admirable and I wish the best for he and children.
To even compare community ongoing and perpetual debate over school buildings and taxes is just plain ludicrous. If you're talking about the insults and nasty hate emails from both sides. Yeah I agreed there isn't a lot of compassion or thinking going on.
Richard Gideon, I agree on all you comments. ANd yes, at least Mr. Ostergaard and Goldman are thinking.
Richard,
ReplyDeleteYou make excellent points, and there have been numerous attempts by multiple residents and others to get your message through to the Board over the past two years. Unfortunately, the Board’s spending behavior with respect to contracts (salary and benefits increases), lawsuits, project fees, interest on a premature bond issue or the possibility of dipping into other funds to cover what should be in the project budget among other things has not demonstrated that the Board has a true appreciation for your economic theory.
I also applaud Mr. Goldman for his poignant comments. While I appreciated Mr. Ostergaard’s statements, the idea of his suggested “compromise” at this point is not something to feel warm and fuzzy about because I believe our residents (and students) have been compromised in many ways already.
How in the world did we get here from allowing the high school facility to deteriorate into such a state and when did we move to the idea that providing a quality education rests on the bricks and mortar of an expensive “21st Century Learning” design?
Several residents have communicated these concerns ad nauseam, but until the board majority truly comes to grips with the reality of their tightening belt, nothing is going to change. Perhaps these two directors will be able to influence a few baby steps in the fiscally responsible direction.
-Charlotte Stephenson
Well said Charlotte. This board and administration just doesn't get it.
ReplyDeleteThey're discussing closing an elementary school so they can proceed with their misguided high school renovation. Even Keystone Oak's new board understands where priorities lie. In recent The Almanac story "New Board Saves KO Schools" new member Dan Domalik said: 'I've collected a mountain of evidence on school consolidation and closures,' and stated that the evidence points to smaller schools providing better educational outcomes."
A commenter here also suggested that I was comparing teachers to car salesman. Apparently, they just don't have a grasp for abstract reasoning. If there is any comparison in my similie, it is that teachers are like the "engine" of the vehicle. The type, quality and size affects performance of both!
Compromising by accepting a "smaller engine" while making larger monthly payments just isn't a "compromise."
Its a price increase for less product - plain and simple - and I don't consider that an equitable compromise.
21st Century Learning Design???
ReplyDeleteWould someone please tell what is so 21st century about building G?
The rendering shows rectangular classrooms in a row connected by a long hallway.
Damn, I see it, I see it now - its the... the... Starship Enterprise!
Ms. Stephenson:
ReplyDeleteThanks for the feedback. When any governmental body - and our school board qualifies - plays the "increased property values" card it is doing so in order to encourage a certain class of people to go away. The idea is very simple: A young twenty-something professional couple buys a house in Mt. Lebanon, has their 2.4 children, sends them to the local government schools, and then sells out when they reach retirement age to another young couple, thus repeating the cycle. The retired couple then remove to some "adult community" in the South, where they may be properly warehoused. I'm only partially kidding. The school board is not interested in families who buy homes in Mt. Lebanon as permanent family homes. People who have the gall to want to stay, for whatever reason, screw-up the system. I'll grant you that some people buy homes here with the same mind-set as our Directors; but many a retired couple have found, much to their chagrin, that it costs money to move, buy another home, and live someplace else.
Actually, from an economics point of view, this system might work - IF the region in which the municipality is located is experiencing economic growth. Western Pennsylvania does not qualify. Therefore, a municipality must attract new residents from adjoining communities. While this may temporarily help the municipality, it does nothing for the region. In order to have sustainable economic growth a region needs a vigorous productive sector to provide high-paying jobs. Bedroom-communities such as Mt. Lebanon can't exist on the revenue they get from in-town businesses, as there are not enough of them, or they are not big enough, to fund the "wish list" of some of its residents. Highly paid civil servants do not help matters either; their salaries come from tax revenues, and any taxes they pay are simply rebates to the taxing authority.
When I moved here from New York in 1975 the Pittsburgh region was the third largest corporate center in America, and in the top ten radio markets (I was in broadcasting at that time). I chose to live in Mt. Lebanon, not because of the schools - although I heard they were good - but because I got a great deal on a house on Bower Hill Road. I could take the bus down to the Chamber of Commerce building quite easily, and there was a grocery store right up the street. Those days are gone, and a new high school isn't going to bring them back.
Richard Gideon
Right you are Mr. Gideon, and I remember the studio window in the Chamber of Commerce building. Those were the days! Not many people remember prior to the '70s Pittsburgh was second only to NYC for the number of Fortune 500 company headquarters.
ReplyDeleteHigh taxes, grandiose stadiums, and excellent school districts (including NA, USC, MTL) have as yet returned our fair city to its former glory.
I believe the phrase "no one ever taxed themselves to prosperity holds true!" Those that cling to the argument that a new high school 'building' will attract new affluent families are deluding themselves. How about a show of hands... how many 'immigrants' actually toured the interior of high school before buying their MTL home.
Giffen Good