posted by Joe Polk at 1:00 PM /
From this past Tuesday's Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:
The Allegheny Institute for Public Policy says Mt. Lebanon municipal government and its school district "have become unnecessarily and excessively burdensome for the community's taxpayers." And proof of that is in the pudding -- or, in this case, the flight: Folks are leaving the South Hills community. One shocking statistic: Mt. Lebanon property owners are paying 50 percent more in school taxes per dollar of market value than Peters property owners. That's what we'd call out of whack.
Link: www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/opinion/archive/s_561139.html
The Allegheny Institute for Public Policy says Mt. Lebanon municipal government and its school district "have become unnecessarily and excessively burdensome for the community's taxpayers." And proof of that is in the pudding -- or, in this case, the flight: Folks are leaving the South Hills community. One shocking statistic: Mt. Lebanon property owners are paying 50 percent more in school taxes per dollar of market value than Peters property owners. That's what we'd call out of whack.
Link: www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/opinion/archive/s_561139.html
Labels: property taxes, school district
4 Comments:
This is comparing apples and oranges. Do you really want to move to Peter's for the schools? You get what you pay for.
I saw this in the paper and wondered if anyone knows where the statistics are that show people are leaving? (I'm not disputing, just curious). Thanks!
There's only two reasons to move to Lebo: either you've got family here or it's because of the excellent schools.
James Cannon has got it right: if we don;t continue to pay for our schools - which are some of the best in the country - our property values will suffer far more than any tax decrease could compensate for. And then we'd become just another poor PA district with bad schools.
In the current school budget we're cutting services that are considered unnecessary to save $60 per $100K of land value. If our schools from from #3 ranking (now) to #30 in 10 years, don't you think your property value will suffer more than $1200?
Not being willing to pay for the schools is extremely short sighted, and hurts not only our children, but everyone who owns in Mt. Lebanon.
This article , from the March 2008 Atlantic Magazine, has some interesting demographic information that would suggest that walkable, mixed residential/commercial inner-core suburbs, close to metropolitan centers and served by light-rail mass transportation may have a bright future.
If true, this suggests that communities like Mt. Lebanon, with all of the amenities above, plus strong schools and desirable housing stock will do just fine in the future.
Steve Posti
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