TPS "may" lower levy request after finding additional 8.5 million

If they don't reduce it I can't see it passing.

The sensible thing would be to scrap the levy entirely but that will not happen. They will still see this November's election and probable turnout as an opportunity they might not get for some time. Expect a reduced request but only a token amount. Since the cat is out of the bag they will feel compelled to reduce it slightly.

"If they don't reduce it I can't see it passing."

Really? In this county? I predict every single levy on the ballot will pass - as usual. More and more taxes heaped upon fewer and fewer property owners.

Always find it amazing how those who are trusted with the public's $$ "magically find" sums of it when backed against the wall.

The city, county, TPS and every other recipient of our tax $$'s need a good, old fashioned, in depth audit. And not by anyone they appoint to do it.

Foodie, I am doubtful the TPS levy will pass.

Keep it as is, for I want to see it fail by at least a 3/2 margin.

Even some of their more loyal supporters have to be abandoning them with test scores scandal.

6th_Floor,

You may be right but I truly don't think this scandal matters much to those who will turn out and support it with their votes. Hell, most of them are likely not even aware of it.

No one could ever accuse the majority of voters in this county of being well informed or making wise choices at the voting booth. They continue to elect and re-elect the same old, same old and support lost causes.

I wonder if this money would have been "found" if there were only going to be one or two levies on the ballot this fall?

They voted to lower the levy to 4.9 mils for 10 years.

I can't vote for levies until they stop letting non-property owners vote for them. I feel obliged to offset one apartment dweller who has nothing to lose by raising the taxes ONLY for property owners, so votes for them all. Why not?

Unfortunately, considering the sad state of economics education in this country, most chronic "apartment dwellers" can't put 2 + 2 together and figure out that part of the reason why their rent increased $25 or $50 per month a couple months past Election Day was to offset the landlord's increased costs...including his newly increased taxes, voted for enthusiastically by the apartment dweller.

But no. The landlord is raising the rent because he/she is "greedy"...."selfish"...."likes to take advantage of poor people"..."doesn't understand how hard it is"....etc. etc. etc. Not because the costs of renting a property just jumped because of all those levies that added another $500 per year to his/her tax bill.

As with many things, the advantage has swung too far to the renter's side.
Dead beat renters can't get thrown out. You got to chase them down, evict them, which takes forever and is difficult, and if they stiff the landlord for the water bill, the city tries to stick it onto the landlord's bill.

justread wrote:

"I can't vote for levies until they stop letting non-property owners vote for them. I feel obliged to offset one apartment dweller who has nothing to lose by raising the taxes ONLY for property owners, so votes for them all. Why not?"

Every renter has a landlord. The landlord pays property taxes. The landlord raises the rent when property taxes go up. Renters pay property taxes, although indirectly.

There was a time when I rented. I was well aware of the possible consequences of voting to pass a property tax levy. I'm sure other renters are equaly well aware.

We're getting distracted by the rent. Let's focus on the fact that people who are unable or unwilling to invest in property along with the direct taxpayers have the ability to raise the taxes of those who do. The gross assumptive generalization of a 1:1 ratio between tax and rent increase is also a fallacy. While a landlord would naturally desire to recoup all expenses, rent is determined by forces in the market which extend far beyond landlord direct costs. I for example, am an accidental landlord who, with insurance, income tax and property tax loses a little bit every month, but not as much as I would leaving the home that I can't sell vacant.
It's a cousin to taxation without representation.

Hey, that renter voted to raise the property taxes on all of my property. Including the one that I live in. Never mind the rental.... Whose rent to I jack up to pay the levies on the house that I occupy? Should I just charge $1,000 a month for a house in a neighborhood where rents run $600? They will pay it, right?

The biggest issue I have is giving more of my hard earned money to the fools running tps. They really need to market their case better than what continues to be an embarrassing display of ignorance. It's really hard for me to "invest" money into a system that consistently fails in academic standards. I find it hard to approve levies for a system that tried to inflate their scores by not reporting absent students and then got caught claiming uh we didnt know. Finally how can I support a levy to a system that doesn't even know how balance their check book...let a alone even knows the balance in their bank account. Seriously...think about it. Tps says oh whoops we dont need all of that money we were asking for...must have forgot to carry the 1 when we were doing the math...then they want us to trust them to use our money efficiently to improve our schools. No thanks I'll keep my money save it and send my kid to a private school where they actually have a clue.

The gross assumptive generalization of a 1:1 ratio between tax and rent increase is also a fallacy. While a landlord would naturally desire to recoup all expenses, rent is determined by forces in the market which extend far beyond landlord direct costs.

I was not seeking to make it a 1:1 comparison; of course there are other factors such as (as you mentioned) market forces, property maintenance, inflation, etc.

I am a landlord as well. I know full well how much I have to suck up whenever one (or seven) of the levies pass...then have to make the determination whether to risk raising the rent and losing a good, on-time-paying lessee...or maintain current prices and just eat more taxes with gravy. And (fuck it, I'm going to say it)...in the current class-warfare environment in this country, I'll be told repeatedly that I'm still not paying "my fair share" by various politicians.

In the meantime, if I raise rent, I'm a "greedy" landlord looking to screw people. If I don't raise rent, the renter sees no appreciable penalty from voting for one, two, or every levy on the ballot. I sure as hell see the penalty.

Good point about taxes going up on the property one occupies. It's a nice "jab-cross" to the jaw every time these levies pass...