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trebuchet03 · 02-15-2008, 12:47 PM

Don't cut services - it's not going to work.

So in Florida, Prop 1 passed on Jan 29. Prop 1 increases the homestead exemption among other things resulting in about $240 tax saving on homeowners with houses that meet the criteria.

The problem is, where's that money coming from? Because Florida is in a "budget crisis." The answer is... Services. Fire, police, TRASH, municipal and, the big one, EDUCATION.

Am I the only one that recognizes that there's little to trim from a public school that's already overcrowded and lacking enough new teachers? And really, you want to lean up on police and fire funding and therefore protection?

So that said, why shouldn't you cut services? Because, if you're like me, you're not going to cut education so you and your neighbor gets and awesome extra $20 a month. Instead, you're going to raise local taxes or cost of local fees. And that's exactly what may happen and is being discussed for the 08/09 fiscal year (which starts oct. 1). IIRC, the estimated funding losses for my county's school system is $141 million.

Ironic isn't it?

Florida lost half of it's GOP delegates and all of it's DNC delegates over this vote. And people aren't going to even get what was promised because their overcrowded schools refuse to take this one sitting down. They need teachers, and they need the money to pay for the ones they have now. I graduated from a class of nearly 1,000 students. Yes. 1 senior class. 1,000 students. Our school at the time was over 4,000 students - and it opened with a student capacity of... 1,800

So, I say this again... Before you vote. Read the fine print. Because if you're cutting services, it's not going to save you a dime. You have no idea how much it will suck when they decide to cut back trash pickup to once a week (South Florida gets pretty damn hot - and most of the population growth is there).

02-15-2008, 12:47 PM	#1 (permalink)
trebuchet03 MechE Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Bay Area Posts: 1,151 The Miata - '01 Mazda MX-5 Miata Thanks: 0 Thanked 21 Times in 18 Posts	If you're going to fiddle with taxes... Don't cut services - it's not going to work. So in Florida, Prop 1 passed on Jan 29. Prop 1 increases the homestead exemption among other things resulting in about $240 tax saving on homeowners with houses that meet the criteria. The problem is, where's that money coming from? Because Florida is in a "budget crisis." The answer is... Services. Fire, police, TRASH, municipal and, the big one, EDUCATION. Am I the only one that recognizes that there's little to trim from a public school that's already overcrowded and lacking enough new teachers? And really, you want to lean up on police and fire funding and therefore protection? So that said, why shouldn't you cut services? Because, if you're like me, you're not going to cut education so you and your neighbor gets and awesome extra $20 a month. Instead, you're going to raise local taxes or cost of local fees. And that's exactly what may happen and is being discussed for the 08/09 fiscal year (which starts oct. 1). IIRC, the estimated funding losses for my county's school system is $141 million. Ironic isn't it? Florida lost half of it's GOP delegates and all of it's DNC delegates over this vote. And people aren't going to even get what was promised because their overcrowded schools refuse to take this one sitting down. They need teachers, and they need the money to pay for the ones they have now. I graduated from a class of nearly 1,000 students. Yes. 1 senior class. 1,000 students. Our school at the time was over 4,000 students - and it opened with a student capacity of... 1,800 So, I say this again... Before you vote. Read the fine print. Because if you're cutting services, it's not going to save you a dime. You have no idea how much it will suck when they decide to cut back trash pickup to once a week (South Florida gets pretty damn hot - and most of the population growth is there). __________________ Cars have not created a new problem. They merely made more urgent the necessity to solve existing ones.