| Author | Message | ||
     buzzsaw Citizen Username: Buzzsaw Post Number: 3663 Registered: 5-2001  |
Not looking to say what needs to be fixed and what is wrong and whatnot. I just want to say that in 5 years my property taxes have gone up just shy of 4K. Thanks Essex County for all you do ! | ||
| Virtual It Girl Citizen Username: Shh Post Number: 3876 Registered: 5-2001 |
Us too, in ten years they've about doubled. | ||
| Jersey Boy Citizen Username: Jersey_boy Post Number: 69 Registered: 1-2006  |
It's Essex County. We support Newark's burden. If we help the "Renaissaince" of Newark, we help ourselves. This means dumping the NYC chauvinism and going to the NJPAC sometimes. I've done it, and it ain't pretty. The restaurants suck and they're expensive. But they have comment cards... Newark is a mess. But it is our responsibility. If it isn't crime creeping into our town, it's police and hospital expenses and government housing and replacing stolen street signs all adding to the Essex County tax burden. People are working really hard to fix it. We're paying them with our taxes. Just consider going to Newark for something, sometimes... and maybe it will help. Oh, and also make sure you have Lo-Jack. J.B. | ||
| jet Citizen Username: Jet Post Number: 1011 Registered: 7-2001 |
We have been over this many times. It's the school bill, simple as that . Thats also why only 35% of school budgets passed last Thursday. Get rid of the layers of administration , & support a constitutional convention to change school financing from local property taxes to income tax based . | ||
| ffof Citizen Username: Ffof Post Number: 4412 Registered: 5-2001  |
Make teachers help pay for their healthcare like ALL other employees do from any other line of work. | ||
| Dave Supporter Username: Dave Post Number: 8489 Registered: 4-1997  |
And pay a lot. With fewer days off. And no pension. | ||
| ffof Citizen Username: Ffof Post Number: 4416 Registered: 5-2001 |
that is some tough love, dave! And I agree. | ||
| Tom Reingold Supporter Username: Noglider Post Number: 12109 Registered: 1-2003  |
I just spent a week working in Newark. I have real mixed feelings about the place. I've been to NJPAC once. It's spectacular. It's also auditoracular, to coin a word. But it still seems like an experiment to me. They're putting in trolleys soon. Seems like a good idea, but we'll see. I hope they have a driver training program before the trolleys start running, because I think people will get killed by not understanding the physics of trolleys. Drivers will get stuck in traffic and stop on the tracks and get plowed over. | ||
| C Bataille Citizen Username: Nakaille Post Number: 2420 Registered: 5-2001 |
Pay a lot for what, their health insurance? So, Dave & FF, you just want to drive everyone OUT of the profession altogether? Are YOU ready to spend your days in the classroom, doing a new performance every day for 6 hours? Then go home and do several hours of paperwork and prep for the next day while you tell your own kid to shut up and leave you alone, you just want some peace and quiet for a change. Walk a mile, a month or even a week in their shoes before you pretend to know what it takes to do that job. Then consider whether the pay, even with decent benefits, is worth the enormous physical, psychological and intellectual effort. The vast majority of college-educated adults apparently do NOT think so. There really is a shortage of qualified teachers in this country. Any idea how many people leave the profession within the first 3-5 years? If it's such a cushy job, why do you think the turnover rate is so high? | ||
| jet Citizen Username: Jet Post Number: 1012 Registered: 7-2001 |
C Bataille , the argument that your job sucks is starting to ring hollow amongst the 240 day workers with no pension & having to contribute to their health care . Do you have any idea how many are trying to leave their jobs to become teachers ? Or how many teachers are trying to become administators ? | ||
| ffof Citizen Username: Ffof Post Number: 4418 Registered: 5-2001 |
C bataille- Many teachers use the district's health insurance even though their spouses can get health insurance from their jobs. Why? Because it's FREE! Why should we be paying for that? It's ludicrous. They don't even have a co-pay. Doesn't EVERYONE have a co-pay? | ||
| kathleen Citizen Username: Symbolic Post Number: 450 Registered: 3-2005 |
For three years in a row, Essex County has lowered the tax rate and built a surplus, while increasing spending on parks and other services. The mathematics are complicated, but you can start by reading this: http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/essex/index.ssf?/base/news-1/113695890322250.xml&c oll=1 (As an aside, I don't think trying to lower your taxes by creating disincentives for teachers to work in this district is the way to go. People ought to try directing their energy toward tax reform, and foregoing unneeded toys like surveillance cameras and little fake brick crosswalks in Maplewood Village.) | ||
| buzzsaw Citizen Username: Buzzsaw Post Number: 3667 Registered: 5-2001 |
education issues aside.... I am not a fool to think that it will ever go down - but the big old question is are they going to keep going up exponentially like they are now. This is something that is going to make people think twice about moving here / starting a business here. A Newark trolly? Could be cool. There are some great places to eat and the NJPAC is a cool place. It will work if people feel safe riding them. Will people feel safe riding them? A constitutional convention? Oh man. In a utopian situation that would be so great. But, if it ever happened - which it won't - it would just be a huge expense to the tax payers putting up all the politicians and feeding them and all the accouterments.......and there would be no change. Unless there is some supernatural power that can some how intervene and make the unlikely likely. (superman?green lantern?) Sorry about being so negative. This has me really upset. If things keep going they way they are going - I won't be able to afford to live in Maplewood. And I really love it here. A lot. | ||
| buzzsaw Citizen Username: Buzzsaw Post Number: 3668 Registered: 5-2001 |
little fake brick crosswalks in Maplewood Village is the least I expect for what I pay in taxes to this town/county. | ||
| jet Citizen Username: Jet Post Number: 1013 Registered: 7-2001 |
Tax reform would be a lot easier to implement if the teachers union went along with it. We should finance our schools just like most of the other states , with income tax . 600 different sch. districts in NJ, absurd. | ||
| ffof Citizen Username: Ffof Post Number: 4419 Registered: 5-2001 |
Too bad proper fake brick crosswalks weren't put in on Springfield Ave the way they should have been when the avenue bumpouts were put in. All that surface paint and "stamping" has worn away on the ENTIRE avenue- talk about waste. | ||
| mem Citizen Username: Mem Post Number: 5689 Registered: 5-2001  |
Buzz - I hear you. My taxes went up about $1k per year for the past six years. They literally doubled. It's tough on a single income household.  | ||
| Dave Supporter Username: Dave Post Number: 8493 Registered: 4-1997 |
Introduce merit pay for teachers (the rest of the world has that, too); give teachers and administrators various options for health coverage, which have a scale of options with varying benefits; give them cash bonuses for opting out (eg. in the case of being on a spouse's plan). No one is saying take health coverage away. And reform has to happen on state-level or not at all. | ||
| C Bataille Citizen Username: Nakaille Post Number: 2421 Registered: 5-2001 |
ffof, where do you get your info? I work for a public school district that participates in the State Health Benefits Plan and yes, we have co-pays! | ||
| ffof Citizen Username: Ffof Post Number: 4420 Registered: 5-2001 |
I make stuff up and see what sticks  Just kidding. So I was wrong about co-pays, but the teachers do not pay in to the plan. | ||
| slipknot (slippy) Citizen Username: Zotts Post Number: 227 Registered: 7-2004  |
Unless you consider it compensation for the long hours, low pay and total lack of respect in the community. | ||
| ffof Citizen Username: Ffof Post Number: 4422 Registered: 5-2001 |
ahh. The respect card. I'll tell my husband to use that one when he goes begging for a raise. A professional gets a salary and does whatever it takes to do the job and do it well. | ||
| slipknot (slippy) Citizen Username: Zotts Post Number: 228 Registered: 7-2004 |
That is BS if you are treated like crap by your boss you'd quit, and if not you'd feel worse. A teacher is a professional and does what ever it takes to educate your kids to make them better citizens, often when even the parent doesn't care that much, and they get paid little despite years of education and continuing education. We want the world out of our teachers, want them available at our schedule and to do our bidding and then complain when they want a cost of living increase. Who is more important to society an ad exec selling crap to our kids or a teacher opening their mind. | ||
| ffof Citizen Username: Ffof Post Number: 4423 Registered: 5-2001 |
Now that is a sign of maturity with the my-job-is-better-than-your-job BS. I volunteer my life away in the schools to try and make it a better place for my kids and all the others I come in contact with. Maybe I oughta just call it quits. | ||
| Dave Supporter Username: Dave Post Number: 8498 Registered: 4-1997 |
Ah, the simple world. Execs selling crap on one side. Teachers on the other. | ||
| Joan Supporter Username: Joancrystal Post Number: 6951 Registered: 5-2001 |
Taxes are going up because personnel service, insurance and capital expenditure costs are going up a lot. These are mandated costs we can do little about. Unless we take the approach of many large companies these days to do more with less, make massive staffing cuts, reduce and/or eliminate programs and services, find innovative but less costly ways to reach goals, etc., we are going to see upwardly spiraling costs on the municipal, county and school budgets with no ends in sight. Short term: On the education front, this would mean larger class size, fewer electives, longer school day for teachers without the full proportionate increase in pay, multiple sessions to maximize use of school facilities, rental of school property for other uses when buildings are not being fully used for education programming for the students, pay-per-course enrichment programs for after school and weekend activities which are not part of the regular curriculum, obtaining commercial sponsorship for some school programs and materials, establishing share the costs-facilities-staffing partnerships with neighboring school districts for under utilized programs and services the school district still needs to provide, merging with neighboring school districts to create more efficient provision of service, eliminating most administrative positions, closing down programs funded by grant money when the grants run dry, etc. Few of these actions are very attractive to most parents who have children in the district. Similar program, service and expectation cuts are needed at the municipal and county level to keep costs in check. Longer term: We can look at the root cause behind cost increases and seek ways to control them. Entering into a self-insurance pool with other jurisdictions in the State and/or region might eliminate some of the administrative and profit money being paid to private insurance companies but it would take a large pool to reduce exposure suficiently to make this cost effective. Graduated benefits programs could be offered to employees enrolled in the State plan where-by basic coverage could be provided to employees at no cost but premium service, drug riders, etc. could be made available at reasonable cost. A new pension tier paying lower benefits could be created for government workers. Legislation could be passed where-by the State and/or Federal Government could provide low cost/no cost loans to municipalities for capital improvements, reducing the debt load. I am sure others could come up with similar cost savings solutions but it would take a lot of us really pushing for it to get anything like this approved. | ||
| mimosa Citizen Username: Mimosa Post Number: 209 Registered: 5-2001 |
ffof, I wonder if the teachers in the school in which you spend so much time volunteering, have any idea of the amount of contempt you seem to have for them. | ||
| ffof Citizen Username: Ffof Post Number: 4424 Registered: 5-2001 |
contempt is awfully harsh. I think that the teachers ought to contribute a bit to their healthcare plan when it is one of the top most driving factors for the reason we have an enormously growing budget. It is not unreasonable. WHen it comes time for the BOE to say, well, the state says we can't have this budget and we have to cut by $6mil and they start cutting teacher positions and raising class size and cutting other various programs, who will you have contempt for? The BOE? | ||
| Tom Reingold Supporter Username: Noglider Post Number: 12136 Registered: 1-2003 |
My initial response is to agree with that, ffof, but what is the recent trend in salary raises for teachers, and how does that compare with most other jobs? And how would that comparison have looked over the last, say, 10 or 20 years? And if the slope of raises is shallower than that of the rest of us, would the premium contribution offset that? In other words, they don't contribute to their health plan, but if we gave them a decent raise and then took the money back in premiums, would it make a difference? I do not know, so I'm not implying anything. "This is the only thing my signature says." | ||
| ffof Citizen Username: Ffof Post Number: 4426 Registered: 5-2001 |
I don't know the answer to that except to say that somewhere (on one of these threads somewhere?) there was a list of the top 4 most costly parts to our budget. One was special ed and out of district costs. One was Health benefits. I can't remember the other two off the top of my head but I don't think salary increases was one of them. It urks me to know that a spouse of a teacher who might have a good health plan where he/she works, doesn't buy into it because his/her spouse can get free health care on the district's dime. Joan's options were quite reasonable as listed above. That would be the direction that I think we should go. | ||
| greenetree Supporter Username: Greenetree Post Number: 6644 Registered: 5-2001  |
FFof- would you make the same choice? Adding your husband to your free health insurance policy versus him paying the family rate to add you to his? In most companies these days, that family rider closes in on a couple hundred per month. I'd like to know more about the "out of district" costs. | ||
| ffof Citizen Username: Ffof Post Number: 4427 Registered: 5-2001 |
I'm sure I would make the same choice. But it doesn't mean that we should continue this practice. We need to reign in costs, bottom line. It's that or cut back all the pet programs that come up every year to be cut...like less art classes, less music instruction, less teacher positions, and on and on. I'm sick of the wittling away at the things that can make or break a great district. We need to offer a reasonable pay-in health plan that helps to ease the stress which is called the school budget and which, in turn, is called our taxes. | ||
| Eponymous Citizen Username: Eponymous Post Number: 41 Registered: 6-2004 |
Seems like the cost of health care is coming up everywhere as a major problem, especially for industry (GM, anyone?). I suspect that it's these competitive disadvantages that will eventually result in universal health care in this country. It's a weird fluke of tax law that resulted in businesses providing health care. Post-WWII, health benefits weren't taxable, while salary increases were, so the former were given in place of the latter. Or so I've read. | ||
| The Libertarian Citizen Username: Local_1_crew Post Number: 1421 Registered: 3-2004  |
i have an idea. if you decide to have a kid make sure you can afford to raise it. pay for its food, clothes, and school. stop making the rest of us pay for your personal and private decision! if you would, i could save something like 70% on my taxes. Complaining isnt activism. stop bitching on the internet and do something about it! | ||
| sac Supporter Username: Sac Post Number: 3068 Registered: 5-2001 |
You just never give it up, do you? To save that 70% there would have to be NO kids. Is that really what you want? | ||
| anon Supporter Username: Anon Post Number: 2550 Registered: 6-2002 |
Libertarian: What you fail to grasp is that society has decided that the education of children is for the benefit of the society as a whole, not just for the benefit of the individual educated, and therefore it is the entire society's responsibility to provide for that education. | ||
| The Libertarian Citizen Username: Local_1_crew Post Number: 1424 Registered: 3-2004 |
society should provide education for those who cannot otherwise afford it. those people who qualify for welfare. the rest of you should pay for your kids. Complaining isnt activism. stop bitching on the internet and do something about it! | ||
| anon Supporter Username: Anon Post Number: 2558 Registered: 6-2002 |
society should provide education for those who cannot otherwise afford it. those people who qualify for welfare. the rest of you should pay for your kids. society should provide police protection for those who cannot otherwise afford it. those people who qualify for welfare. the rest of you should pay for your security. | ||
| Tom Reingold Supporter Username: Noglider Post Number: 12184 Registered: 1-2003 |
Same for roads. And let the robber barons pay for the SEC and the FDA. "This is the only thing my signature says." | ||
| anon Supporter Username: Anon Post Number: 2560 Registered: 6-2002 |
If they are really "robber barons", that is, thieves, shouldn't they pay for their own prison cells? |
