Archive for Thursday, August 21, 2008
Mill levy impact minimal
August 21, 2008
Although the Baldwin School District's mill levy slightly increased for the 2008-2009 fiscal year, the effect to taxpayers won't be much, according to Supt. Paul Dorathy.
The district's mill levy increased 1.124 mills from 55.016 to 56.140 for this year. That 1.124 mills will increase taxes a total of $22.62 for the entire fiscal year on a house that is appraised at $175,000.
"For a year on a $175,000 house, their taxes went up $22.62," Dorathy said. "If you want that by month, it went up $1.89 per month.
"It did raise people's taxes, there is no question about that," he said. "The impact will not be significant, but for some people $1.89 a month is significant."
To figure the tax increase for the year, a taxpayer must multiply the appraised value of their house times 11.5 percent or 0.115, which will give the assessed value of their property. That number is then multiplied times the mill levy increase, which is 0.001124 when properly figured.
The district's assessed valuation increased this year from $73,318,922 to $74,550,345. Dorothy said Baldwin was one of only a handful of district's to see an increase in assessed valuation this year.
"When I went to Topeka to talk about our valuation, which went up about 2 percent, I was told very few school districts in the state of Kansas had their valuations go up," Dorathy said. "In fact, a lot of them had valuations go down, which means those taxpayers' mills had to be raised to do the same amount of money. We were equal with Blue Valley, whose valuation only went up 2 percent also. They were about the same as us in valuation percentage increase."
21 August 2008
at 10:44 a.m.
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Torch (Anonymous) says…
“The impact will not be significant, but for some people $1.89 a month is significant.”
Thanks for the sarcasm. Idiot.
You're just like everyone else who soaks taxpayers.
“For the cost of 1 Big Mac a month you can get ”
The problem…Mr. D…is that I'm already buying about 1,000 Big Macs a month. I don't want any more. I don't need any more. You're not the only one selling Big Macs.
Impress me for a change…tell me that you're going to do more with less. (You know…like every single organization in the country right now!) Tell me you're going to take two Big Macs off of my back. But don't be typical and think that even a small amount of tax is a good thing.
We're spending more on high school students than I paid for my entire college education. Think about that. For what the State and the local taxpayers pay for one year I could have paid 2 years of tuition and books.
And a college education today? LOL! A typical middle class student cannot get any scholarships and leaves school with the equivilent of a house mortgage.
No Mr. D…Education in this country is bloated and filled with self-righteousness that is going to leave us all loaded with debt and cripple the economy.
Instead of waving off the tax increase as insignificant you should be begging forgiveness for every single dime of tax money you consume.
You said that keeping MS open was worth $200,000+ to the school district. If you closed MS how many Big Macs a month would that save us?
There is no such thing as an insignificant tax increase Mr. D…I would expect you to know that. You and your board need to stop living in La La Land and start figuring ways to cut instead of spend more. Those of us working and paying for it are sick of the 'head in the sand' approach so often found here.
21 August 2008
at 2:45 p.m.
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TheOnlyGreyghost (Anonymous) says…
It's about time to require a prescription for ExLax. It's being grossly abused around here.
21 August 2008
at 4:20 p.m.
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NanCrisp (Anonymous) says…
“The district's assessed valuation increased this year from $73,318,922 to $74,550,345. Dorothy said Baldwin was one of only a handful of district's to see an increase in assessed valuation this year.”
Being neck-in-neck with Blue Valley in the valuation increase category is not a positive thing. While lots of folks in Blue Valley enjoy their upper crust lifestyle and shell out the big bucks for every extravagance for their little angels, including throwing money at the school district, Baldwin residents are more “income-challenged.” We don't need to be purchasing land, buildings and paraphernalia at a rate that causes our school district's assets to increase along the same lines as Blue Valley's!
But perhaps “Dorothy” is still living in Oz, where “districts” are actually “district's.” (I fully expect these typos in this article to be corrected within the hour.)
21 August 2008
at 7:23 p.m.
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TheOnlyGreyghost (Anonymous) says…
Do you mean “neck and neck,” Nan? And please hyphenate “upper-crust,” since the phrase serves as a compound modifier or adjective (take your pick), thus requiring a hyphen. I fully expect these errors to be corrected within the hour, since you (as a crack editor) should set a higher standard for us plebeians.
As for your glib swipes at Blue Valley and reverse-snob comments about their “little angels,” you haven't proved any point beyond “Nan's feeling bitter.”
Both evaluations went up 2%—this does not mean that Baldwin's dollar assessment approaches that of Blue Valley. It means it went up 2% from what it was. Actually, if Baldwin's assessment DID rival Blue Valley's, adjusting for size, maybe we could boast some of the facts their district can:
-ACT composite avg scores for 2007 BV grads: 24.1.
-SAT comp avg scores for 2007 BV grads: 1734.
-US Dept of Educ has awarded BV with Blue Ribbon distinction for outstanding educational programs 14 times.
-Graduation rate at BV is 98% with 92% pursuing higher education—among the highest rates in the US.
-BV is in top 2% of public sch districts nationwide.
-All 4 BV high schools listed among “1300 Top US Schools” by Newsweek.
I guess you think those “extravagances” BV parents shower on their kids are a waste of money. Why should we prepare the majority of grads for college? Much better to let facilities crumble and watch top teachers leave for better-paying districts. The reward? That sense of pride at seeing one's high-school graduate (or drop-out) land a coveted job at McDonald's.
Baldwin has lost excellent teachers (think 2nd grade) for lack of good pay—then hired replacements who couldn't begin to fill the shoes of those who left. Make no mistake—the good ones we have aren't here for the pay. They have ties to the area, they want their kids to go to a small-town school, or they have other social reasons to stay. When they retire or move, we'll have a hard time attracting equally good teachers for substandard compensation.
Perhaps you think replacing a crumbling, mold-infested building is an “extravagance” — one our kids neither need nor deserve. Some of us think otherwise and would rather “throw money” at our kids' education than at … let's see… season tickets to the Chiefs or Royals… entertainment luminaries… or other crap people throw money at while bleating about being ripped off by the schools.
Show me someone who will starve over another $22 per year for the schools, and I'll show you someone who's spending much more that on NASCAR, football, concerts, movies, fast/processed food, video games, etc…
You and Torch are welcome to move to an area that shares your educational values—Mississippi comes to mind.
22 August 2008
at 10:19 a.m.
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Torch (Anonymous) says…
Grey:
Throwing money is exactly what you're doing. Spending it wisely you are not.
Does this district need a 10,000 square foot performing arts center to 'better educate' our children? You believe that's a wise expenditure?
You think shelling out over $200,000 to MS in order to accomodate a small collection of rural families is smart?
I don't mind spending money on good teachers…the problem is that the Union doesn't allow us to do so. When pay raises come it's X percent to every teacher. As soon as we're allowed to fire bad teachers and give the good teachers what they deserve I'll be happy.
“Show me someone who will starve over another $22 per year for the schools, and I'll show you someone who's spending much more that on NASCAR, football, concerts, movies, fast/processed food, video games, etc:”
This is exactly what I'm talking about in my post. $22 a year by itself is insignificant perhaps…but the trouble is I'm paying 500 x $22 already. Enough is enough. Ever heard of 'nickel and diming' someone to death? Another prime example.
Also, I'd appreciate it if you'd allow me to choose how I spend the money I earn. You do not have the right to tell me where or how I spend it or what I consider excessive. Nor do you have the right to tell me that 'education' is more important than anything else I spend my money on.
You forget that I've had children in this district and I know what goes on in the classroom. Indignent teachers asking for more money need to remember that we parents aren't stupid. How about this?
If teachers want more money let's put video cameras in the classrooms and let me log into them from the web and watch the instruction. This way I can evaluate myself the 'quality' of their instruction. Certainly if they're as good as they say and want so much more money they wouldn't mind me tuning in whenever I feel like it to ensure I'm getting full value for my tax dollar right?
Surely they wouldn't mind us watching and making sure that our children are getting quality instruction for the full school day right?
Do that and allow parents and students to have input in to teacher evaluations. Then eliminate tenure and allow us to fire the bad teachers. After that…I'll be much more inclined to shell out more to retain 'good' teachers. Your trouble is you seem to think that everything with 'education' attached to it is good. It's not…and the Baldwin school mafia doesn't want you to know that.
How about demanding accountability instead of glibly throwing money at the district Grey? How about taking a look at where we're spending money and deciding if it's well spent or not? No…that's not your agenda…you just want the same old liberal approach - throw money at it and it will get better.
I think not.
16 September 2008
at 9:28 p.m.
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baldwinfan (Anonymous) says…
My problem with their evaluation of how much my taxes go up is the county increases my appraisal between 2-5% every year. Yet they keep the same price when they tell us how much our taxes will increase. Why not say that a $175K house will have their taxes increase $22, but that same house will be worth $180K next year which will be taxed at a $24 increase. I didn't do the math, I just made those numbers up as an example.