🚀 go-pugleaf

> claszlo@epix.net writes:
> 
> >> Anyone have any information opinions on how the schools compare with
> >> those in Baltimore county (grades 1-12)? With the amount of
> >development
> >> going on in the Sykesville, Eldersburg area my wife and I were
> >wondering
> >> how the school system is keeping up/planning for future. Any help
> >> would be most appreciated.
> 
> >Just saw on WBAL last night that the Carroll County is considering an
> >18 month moratorium on new home construction, because the
> >infrastructure is so overloaded.  The report said elementary schools
> >(especially in the southern part of the county) are at 130% of
> >capacity.  Middle and SR high schools are also overcrowded.
> 
> >Tax situation is getting bad there, because existing residents are
> >being asked to foot the bill for the extra burden caused by the
> >growth.  Schools, roads, fire/police, and sewer/water are all bursting
> >at the seams.  You'd expect the additions to the tax base to pay for
> >infrastructure improvements, wouldn't you?  It appears taxes were
> >sufficient to pay for maintaining existing services, but marginal
> >costs for improvements are much higher than can be supported by
> >current tax rates.

Carroll County taces are currently about $2.25 per hundred, with very 
underappraised real estate, in the main (there are some adequately apprasied 
homes, mostly newer ones, but the general run of appraisals is far behind the 
real selling prices.)

The County Finance Dept has pointed out that it costs $1.17 in expenditures 
to pay for the costs of support of $1.00 in property taxes. In other words, 
it's not cost effective to continue to develop residentially. This is not 
unique to Carroll County; it's the way it is everywhere: residential property 
taxes don't pay their way. Communities need commercial taxes, or higher 
apprasials, to pay the cost of keeping the community services up to standard.

And the services that they are paying for aren't, mostly, the 'soft stuff 
(welfare, health, etc.) We're talking about roads , sewers, water, etc.

If Carroll County is firm in it's commitment to keep the moratorium on new 
residential construction for ah\while while making a rational growth plan, 
the county could be a nice place to live in ten years. If not, it's going to 
grow willy nilly like so many other 'desireable' places outside big cities, 
and the quality of life will plummet.

 
> 
> >Homebuilders are against the moratorium (surprise!!), because they
> >will lose revenues.  IMO, if the developers want to continue building,
> >they should pay a large chunk of money per new home to cover the
> >expense of upgrades to the infrastructure and then pass on the costs
> >to the home buyers - TINSTAAFL (There Is No Such Thing As A Free
> >Lunch).

There's nothing written in our Constitution or Bill of Rights that we have 
the right to make money despite the affect on the community around us. The 
folks who have done well selling real estate, building homes, etc. might need 
to find another way to make their living for a couple of years while the rest 
of the c ommunity figures out what's good for ALL of us.

It's a little like folks who complain about being restricted from selling 
cigarettes to kids or alcohol 24 hours a day: no one ever said that, because 
we were silly enough not to understand the negative affect of these 
activities on our society some years ago that it should be alright to 
continue doing something harmful. Same with overbuilding.

The intelligent and creative developers and real estate folks will put on 
their thinking caps and figure out other ways to make a living. Those who 
haven't used their creativity to begin with will suffer.

> The moratorium was passed (good) but the schools are still overcrowded
> (bad) but compared to Baltimore County?  Are you kidding?  I'd send my
> kids to a private school in Baltimore County if I wanted to get the
> same quality education as Carrol County.  They do take education
> seriously in CC, and even though some classes get big (25 -30 students),
> that's a minor problem compared to the crime, drugs, disaffected majority
> of the teachers that you see in BC.  Of course CC has the same "types"
> of problems as BC, but nowhere near the amount.

I agree. I've been watching the system and notice that, despite some local 
grousing about top heavy administration, the system is really well balanced, 
with good teachers and generally right-thinking administrators. Of course, 
like any other system in this day of tightening economies, we will lose some 
good teachers and get some drones as the salaries remain stagnant. We can't 
expect to get good help if we don't pay for it.
> 
> The drug task force in CC has to go after the occasionaly 40 something
> grass smoker, while in BC you just arrest anyone outside the school
> building that didn't go in after the first bell.
> 
> Please, Carrol County has wonderful schools for a public system (on the
> average).  Every individual school, every individual teacher, is different.
> I have three kids there, 2 on the honor roll, one with major speech
> problems, so I've seen both ends of the spectrum, and if the parents
> keep in touch with the teachers and work with the kids, it's about as
> good an education as you'll get anywhere in the state.

And of course, the education in any community is better if the parents and 
the neighbors are involved with it.

I've noticed some complaining in the local paper from folks who don't have 
young people in school. They contend that they shouldn't have to pay for the 
schools because they don't get any benefit! That's a little like saying that 
you shouldn't have to pay for police because you haven't been robbed -- or 
that you won't pay for the local volunteer fire department because you 
haven't had a fire.

What happens in a community in which the education program is limited? The 
people who come through that system are less connected to the community, they 
are lower earners (and pay less taxes), they generally reduce the quality of 
life around them becuase they haven't been taught to think and reason well. 
Our schools aren't just a place for the kids to go. They are the basis for a 
working democracy because they are supposed to give us an informed 
electorate.
> 
> --
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
> rytis@osha.gov by day...      rytis@charm.net by night.....
> .sig's?  We don't need no damn .sig's
> ok, how about:"Sometimes you're the bird, and sometimes you're the windshield"