Even a nice reply is attacked. Unbelievable. Privately owned or not, just because someone says they are sorry to see it go, does not warrant a personal attack. Maybe they don't have that kind of money. I did not send that original comment, but I had to reply because I do not understand where such an angry response comes from. Twisted to be sure.
Rope off a section of the river near the park and hire a few part time summer lifeguards. The kids would love it AND it would be free for all children.
I was in Hershey today and noticed a huge, beautiful pool. I want to research this because it appears to be a community pool. Hershey has roughly three to four thousand more residents than Columbia Borough. Hershey is clean and quiet. I have been there several times and never see any litter. Our borough does not provide our kids with school buses and it IS a long walk for those out on Manor Street. The money that the borough saves on buses, gas, insurance, drivers, and maintenance could be used to provide a community swimming pool. We pay very high taxes and yet we have no busing for the students. Where in the world is our money going?
Comparing Hershey and Columbia is like comparing apples and turkeys. They are two completely different municipalities with two extremely different tax bases.
What other borough would be a fair comparison? I'm asking this seriously because I really do want to see how this Borough stacks up. In your opinion, what other local borough, this size, provides its own school district? Mountville is part of Hempfield, Marietta and Maytown are part of Donegal.
There are two separate taxes; School and municipal. Any expenditure for busses would be in the school district budget and be paid for with school taxes. A community pool would not be paid for by school taxes.
A fair comparison? In size, maybe Brentwood Borough School District? Brentwood Borough, a suburb of Pittsburgh located in Allegheny County, was incorporated November 6, 1915. The borough consists of 929.9 acres, or approximately 1.5 square miles. Brentwood currently has an estimated population of 10,000 citizens.
Demographics are different: http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/nav/jsf/pages/community_facts.xhtml?src=bkmk
The Brentwood Borough School District is comprised of two elementary schools for grades K-5, and a combined middle/high school for grades 6-12. The district currently serves an estimated 1,250 students.
Another, in size only: Morrisville Borough School District: http://www.mv.org/
Few municipalities the size of Columbia decided to "go it alone" during the era of school district consolidation. Want to do the research? Go here: http://munstatspa.dced.state.pa.us/MuniSDRel.aspx
blame the high taxes on the number of rental properties in this Boro....i believe probably close to 1,000.....way way too many for a town this size. there are NOT enough TAXPAYING HOMEOWNERS AND RENTERS/TENANTS AREN'T TAXED! IF they are going to keep ALL these rental properties then the VERY LEAST they can do is "CREATE A MANDATORY TAX FOR EVERY RENTER/TENANT OVER THE AGE OF 18. WE pay for all the renters kids to go to our schools. attend school board mtgs. voice your concerns.
That's exactly what I thought, however that tax is very minimal. I think the idea is that too many kids reside in one building, meaning more kids in our school district. The landlord pays the tax bill for one property, but there could be 6,8, or more kids in the building vs. a single dwelling with 1-3 kids. A drain on the school system.
You do realize that all properties are assessed for property tax purposes, right? It doesn't matter who owns the property, taxes get paid for it. In the case of rentals, I am sure the landlord accounts for the taxes when they set the rent. This is why we need property tax reform.
Make Columbia part of Hemp field School District & you'll see property values go up dramatically. This will trigger landlords to take the profit of the sales price difference, & actual homeowners will want to live in this town.
Even if this town was part of Hempfield, it won't make much difference. People are still not going to want to live in Columbia. This town is a drug-infested cesspool (like most towns and cities). The problem is much larger than the school district. Although we shouldn't have 500 school districts in this state, nor should we have 56 billion little government fiefdoms.
Yes, I understand that buses would be paid from school taxes, but the point is they are not paying to operate buses. Most other districts are paying for this service. Columbia saves money in this area, so why are we still struggling? How is the Hempfield Recreation Center funded? Is that private? Columbia could afford to build a nice community swimming pool with some of the great LASA windfall. The powers that be will spend it on their own pet projects, rather than help the community at large.
Look at the towns in Hempfield school district Mount ville, Land is ville, East Pete, Roherstown. Do you see any that have our problems. So tell me it's not the school district & it's crazy high taxes.
You're comping apples and oranges. How do the above compare with Columbia in terms of population, demographics, income, poverty, etc.
Making Columbia a part of Hempfield SD isn't going to make this town suddenly become attractive to home owners. The problems are a lot deeper than that.
Sharing the costs over a bigger population leads to lower taxes. This in turn leads to a more affordable home for families & retirees. I would think even the EDC would know this.
People who think the school district is not a problem in this town are the ones who keep us stuck in the past & going backward. We need business minded people to run this town like a business should be run & get rid of the small town mindness or should I say inefficient operation that we've been using.
A town is not a business. A town has services that it must provide that won't bring profit. Only narrow-minded and clueless people think the two are in any way similar.
And because the town wastes so much taxpayer money, they can't provide services to those in need. Weather its a nonprofit or a stockholder owned business, if you don't make your operations efficient there won't be any profit, or in the case of the town services, for the taxpayers or stockholders.
This has to be a boro employee, or someone not very smart. It's very easy to see this town & it's school district are very inefficient with the taxpayers money. Taxpayers are not getting near enough for their money. Hopefully that's simple enough for even you.
Yeah, for the money you would think people would at least know how to correctly use apostrophes. Again, running a school district and a boro are not the same as running a business. You cannot run them with the same mindset, despite what Trump says. Simple enough for ya, chief?
So I guess your an English teacher. Doesn't matter what you think, I & everybody else in this town are tired of paying way too much in taxes & getting nothing for it. Since you think it's OK the way it is I'll pay in taxes for my property what I would if my property was in Hempfield & you pay what's left because it's in Columbia. I can tell you right now you'll be paying about 30% of my taxes.
Unfortunately your like our leaderless in this town you worry about dumb stuff like apostrophes or in their case saving employees jobs instead of worrying about how to best use taxpayers money. It's called diversion. It's what politicians do best. So maybe that's what you are. By the way business
Another side note business is not defined by profit. Nonprofits are businesses too & the good ones are always looking at efficiencies in their business.
Sorry to see it go kids really did need that pool
ReplyDeleteThen why didn't you buy it and run it for the kids? It was privately owned before you know,
DeleteEven a nice reply is attacked. Unbelievable. Privately owned or not, just because someone says they are sorry to see it go, does not warrant a personal attack. Maybe they don't have that kind of money. I did not send that original comment, but I had to reply because I do not understand where such an angry response comes from. Twisted to be sure.
DeleteRope off a section of the river near the park and hire a few part time summer lifeguards. The kids would love it AND it would be free for all children.
ReplyDeleteI was in Hershey today and noticed a huge, beautiful pool. I want to research this because it appears to be a community pool. Hershey has roughly three to four thousand more residents than Columbia Borough. Hershey is clean and quiet. I have been there several times and never see any litter. Our borough does not provide our kids with school buses and it IS a long walk for those out on Manor Street. The money that the borough saves on buses, gas, insurance, drivers, and maintenance could be used to provide a community swimming pool. We pay very high taxes and yet we have no busing for the students. Where in the world is our money going?
ReplyDeleteComparing Hershey and Columbia is like comparing apples and turkeys. They are two completely different municipalities with two extremely different tax bases.
DeleteWhat other borough would be a fair comparison? I'm asking this seriously because I really do want to see how this Borough stacks up. In your opinion, what other local borough, this size, provides its own school district? Mountville is part of Hempfield, Marietta and Maytown are part of Donegal.
DeleteYou are right; while Columbia is a borough, Hershey is an unincorporated village in Derry Township, Dauphin County. Things are different.
DeleteHere's where to find out more about Derry Township's taxes:
http://www.derrytownship.org/government/tax-structure-revenues
There are two separate taxes; School and municipal. Any expenditure for busses would be in the school district budget and be paid for with school taxes. A community pool would not be paid for by school taxes.
DeleteA fair comparison? In size, maybe Brentwood Borough School District? Brentwood Borough, a suburb of Pittsburgh located in Allegheny County, was incorporated November 6, 1915. The borough consists of 929.9 acres, or approximately 1.5 square miles. Brentwood currently has an estimated population of 10,000 citizens.
DeleteDemographics are different: http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/nav/jsf/pages/community_facts.xhtml?src=bkmk
The Brentwood Borough School District is comprised of two elementary schools for grades K-5, and a combined middle/high school for grades 6-12. The district currently serves an estimated 1,250 students.
Another, in size only: Morrisville Borough School District: http://www.mv.org/
Few municipalities the size of Columbia decided to "go it alone" during the era of school district consolidation. Want to do the research? Go here: http://munstatspa.dced.state.pa.us/MuniSDRel.aspx
blame the high taxes on the number of rental properties in this Boro....i believe probably close to 1,000.....way way too many for a town this size. there are NOT enough TAXPAYING HOMEOWNERS AND RENTERS/TENANTS AREN'T TAXED! IF they are going to keep ALL these rental properties then the VERY LEAST they can do is "CREATE A MANDATORY TAX FOR EVERY RENTER/TENANT OVER THE AGE OF 18. WE pay for all the renters kids to go to our schools. attend school board mtgs. voice your concerns.
ReplyDeleteWe have one. It's called a per capita tax.
DeleteThat's exactly what I thought, however that tax is very minimal. I think the idea is that too many kids reside in one building, meaning more kids in our school district. The landlord pays the tax bill for one property, but there could be 6,8, or more kids in the building vs. a single dwelling with 1-3 kids. A drain on the school system.
DeleteYou do realize that all properties are assessed for property tax purposes, right? It doesn't matter who owns the property, taxes get paid for it. In the case of rentals, I am sure the landlord accounts for the taxes when they set the rent. This is why we need property tax reform.
DeleteMake Columbia part of Hemp field School District & you'll see property values go up dramatically. This will trigger landlords to take the profit of the sales price difference, & actual homeowners will want to live in this town.
ReplyDeleteEven if this town was part of Hempfield, it won't make much difference. People are still not going to want to live in Columbia. This town is a drug-infested cesspool (like most towns and cities). The problem is much larger than the school district. Although we shouldn't have 500 school districts in this state, nor should we have 56 billion little government fiefdoms.
DeleteYes, I understand that buses would be paid from school taxes, but the point is they are not paying to operate buses. Most other districts are paying for this service. Columbia saves money in this area, so why are we still struggling? How is the Hempfield Recreation Center funded? Is that private? Columbia could afford to build a nice community swimming pool with some of the great LASA windfall. The powers that be will spend it on their own pet projects, rather than help the community at large.
ReplyDeleteYes the RIVER IS AN EXCELLENT IDEA....
ReplyDeleteSorry the abusers may not think so....
But hey let them abuse Street paking....
Look at the towns in Hempfield school district Mount ville, Land is ville, East Pete, Roherstown. Do you see any that have our problems. So tell me it's not the school district & it's crazy high taxes.
ReplyDeleteYou're comping apples and oranges. How do the above compare with Columbia in terms of population, demographics, income, poverty, etc.
DeleteMaking Columbia a part of Hempfield SD isn't going to make this town suddenly become attractive to home owners. The problems are a lot deeper than that.
Sharing the costs over a bigger population leads to lower taxes. This in turn leads to a more affordable home for families & retirees. I would think even the EDC would know this.
ReplyDeleteSince Columbia is landlocked, there is no way to share the costs over a bigger population unless we merge with another district. It has to be done.
ReplyDeletePeople who think the school district is not a problem in this town are the ones who keep us stuck in the past & going backward. We need business minded people to run this town like a business should be run & get rid of the small town mindness or should I say inefficient operation that we've been using.
ReplyDeleteA town is not a business. A town has services that it must provide that won't bring profit. Only narrow-minded and clueless people think the two are in any way similar.
DeleteAnd because the town wastes so much taxpayer money, they can't provide services to those in need. Weather its a nonprofit or a stockholder owned business, if you don't make your operations efficient there won't be any profit, or in the case of the town services, for the taxpayers or stockholders.
ReplyDeleteYou're still trying to pass them off as similar. They are not. Your analogy makes zero sense.
DeleteThis has to be a boro employee, or someone not very smart. It's very easy to see this town & it's school district are very inefficient with the taxpayers money. Taxpayers are not getting near enough for their money. Hopefully that's simple enough for even you.
ReplyDeleteYeah, for the money you would think people would at least know how to correctly use apostrophes. Again, running a school district and a boro are not the same as running a business. You cannot run them with the same mindset, despite what Trump says. Simple enough for ya, chief?
DeleteSo I guess your an English teacher. Doesn't matter what you think, I & everybody else in this town are tired of paying way too much in taxes & getting nothing for it. Since you think it's OK the way it is I'll pay in taxes for my property what I would if my property was in Hempfield & you pay what's left because it's in Columbia. I can tell you right now you'll be paying about 30% of my taxes.
Delete***** You're *****
ReplyDeleteNope, not an English teacher. I did pass the 3rd grade which is where they teach you that kind of stuff.
I never said it is OK. I simply said you can't run a town like a business. You are the one that is making up arguments.
Unfortunately your like our leaderless in this town you worry about dumb stuff like apostrophes or in their case saving employees jobs instead of worrying about how to best use taxpayers money. It's called diversion. It's what politicians do best. So maybe that's what you are.
ReplyDeleteBy the way business
Another side note business is not defined by profit. Nonprofits are businesses too & the good ones are always looking at efficiencies in their business.
ReplyDeleteBusinesses (whether for-profit or non) are still not the same as a town or school district that must (by law) provide certain services. Not the same.
DeleteAnybody who thinks municipalities shouldn't be efficient with their funds only needs to look at Detroit.
ReplyDelete