RailRoadingBastropDotCom |
|
Exposing Political/Corporate Scams in Bastrop Texas |
|
Home |
|
Bastrop-News |
|
Bastrop Advertiser |
|
Petition calling for What? Any Mention of a TAX? |
|
Petition calling for an election on enlarging and extending the boundaries of the Austin community college district to include the territory comprising the Bastrop independent school district. We the undersigned together with the signatories to the multiple counterparts of this petition, bring more than five percent of the registered voters in the Bastrop Independent School District (the Territory), hereby respectfully petition and request that an election be called and held within the boundaries of the Bastrop Independent School District, (the “District”), and in support of such petition and request, we would show as follows: That the Territory proposed to be annexed to and included within the District comprises all of the territory now contained within the boundaries of the Bastrop Independent School District within the Service Area of Austin Community College District, and is therefore properly includable therein under the authority of Subchapter D, Chapter 130, Texas Education Code, as amended, including particularly, 130.063 and 130.065 thereof, as amended. That a full, complete and legally sufficient description of the Territory accompanies this petition and is incorporated herein for all purposes. That this petition has been duly and properly executed in multiple original counterparts, but together constituting only one instrument. Wherefore, the undersigned respectfully petition and request that this petition be duly and timely verified and considered, that the requests herein contained be granted in all respects, and that said contract be authorized as herein requested and as provided by law. Respectfully submitted, Bastrop County Friends of Higher Education – Bastrop ISD Area Steering Committee Imitative. |
|
The above has a Flesch score of 20.9—considered easily understood by college graduates
The Flesch Reading Ease Readability Formula |
|
Did you sign this? Did you know you were signing up to have your property taxed? Read it now; If you don’t understand it, really, you are not alone— Heck, I don’t understand it myself! |
|
Letter to the Editor Bastrop Advertiser OnLine—11 June 2010 I thought “sleeping on it” would somehow lessen my amazement at the arrogance of the ACC property purchase. Unfortunately, it has not. ACC apparently is discounting us pesky little taxpayers, Make no mistake, there is a boat load of money fixin to promote this TAX. Up for consideration is the huge loss of property tax revenue this valuable land would have generated had a residential or retail venue been located there. ACC, for example, has a campus at 1212 Rio Grande in Austin, Texas. The property is valued at a whopping $6 million plus. ACC paid not one dime of property tax to the City of Austin. “We the Sheeple” will be paying for this folly in three ways. Once with our property taxes; twice with the loss of property tax which could have been collected on this valuable piece of property and lastly: If you attend ACC, you will pay tuition. Tuition subsidized by your unwilling neighbors. Meaning no disrespect to Bastrop Voters and Taxpayers but the “petition” you signed has language which according to the Flesch-Kincaid Readability Score is 20.9 which means it is “easily understood by COLLEGE GRADUATES!” Check it out for yourself at http://www.railroadingbastrop.com/index_files/Page315.htm Please let me know where the petition mentions a property TAX to pay for it. PS – This missive has a Flesch Kincaid score of 9.2 - that means a 9th grader can understand it. “There is no worse tyranny than to force a man to pay for what he does not want merely because you think it would be good for you.” -Robert A. Heinlein “To compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical.” -Thomas Jefferson “The evils of tyranny are rarely seen but by him who resists it.” -John Hay Vic Vreeland Cedar Creek |
|
WAIT UNTIL THE STORM PASSES By Bob Parmelee March 3, 2010 There have been a long string of taxpayer letters published in local newspapers which express frustration with the narrow scope of the community college discussion. Carolyn Smith, asked “Who decided Austin Community College is the most cost effective option?” Chet Drombrowki’s letter was captioned, “Will voters get to look at the other options.” There should be little surprise at the lack of choices presented in the ACC debate. After all, you can’t expect a salesman or a lobbyist to tout a competitor’s product. Tom Scott writes (Advertiser, Feb. 13), “Now its time for ACC to take over the process…” and “ACC will lead the process going forward…” In reality there are many options, not just one. In order for the voters to make an informed decision they might consider some of the other possibilities for junior college education in Bastrop. Here are some options for the prospective Bastrop college student and the Bastrop taxpayer to consider. In most cases a mix of these strategies would make sense. Fully exploit existing college entrance, “Affiliation Courses”: Every Bastrop student should be taking full advantage of high school courses which are accepted for college credit. In the Bastrop ISD, there are currently 120 courses that are acceptable by ACC, Blinn and other colleges. These courses are essentially free. Motivated BISD students should be taking a full course load, rather than “slacking off” in the final semesters. For each three-hour affiliation course taken, a student will save $459 based on ACC tuition rates or $276 based on more economical Blinn College. A student could take as many as 12 courses prior to graduation yielding as much as $5500 in student savings. Advanced placement courses can also be credited for college credit. Earn your education the old fashioned way, pay for it yourself: As the student is the primary beneficiary of his or her college education, it is only fair for students to pay their own way by taking a part time job or by executing a personal loan. There are at least a half-dozen federal grant and loan programs available to students. Ironically, as we appear to be entering a period of severe inflation due to the proliferation of entitlement programs and run-away spending, a student loan could rebound to the student’s benefit. A student who borrows 2010 dollars and repays with 2020 dollars may realize a financial windfall. Try Distance Education: For many basic courses in disciplines such as English, history, mathematics and business Administration, a brick and mortar campus is not needed. On-line education or “Distance Education” has become the standard for cost reduction and student convenience. Computers are now cheap and ubiquitous. Local community colleges, including Blinn College, whose district begins in neighboring Fayette County, offer many Distance Education courses as does ACC, MIT and virtually all other colleges of significance. These courses are open to all students in all counties of Texas. However, the tuition rates vary widely. The University of Phoenix, the pioneer in Distance Education, charges $1105 for a three-credit course, versus $459 and $276 for ACC and Blinn, respectively. Take advantage of the GI Bill: After military service, the GI Bill offers an affordable route to higher education that millions of veterans have used. It is also possible to take courses on various military posts throughout the world. While stationed on Okinawa, this writer took courses in business law, production management and operations research from the University of Maryland. To cite one current opportunity, the University of Phoenix currently offers courses at ten different sites in Germany. Attend an existing local college campus: If distance education is not suitable, say for a course requiring a hands-on facility, a student may attend a local campus in Austin (ACC, University of Phoenix, St Edwards, UT, etc) or in Schulenburg at the Blinn College campus which appears to be a compelling and economical alternative. The driving time to Schulenburg and Austin is comparable. Build a local ACC campus, or two: The proposal receiving all of the air time involves building a multi-million dollar ACC campus in Bastrop County. By this mechanism, most cost would be shifted from the student to the taxpayer. The cost of a three-hour course would drop to ACC “in-district” rates of $165, which is $111 cheaper than the Blinn out-of-district tuition. There is a parallel (and to this writer, bizarre) proposal to build an additional ACC campus in nearby Elgin. However, recent letters from Bastrop taxpayers indicate that they believe their taxes are already too high and statistics seem to bear this out. Annual tax rates ($ tax per $100 valuation) for Elgin, Bastrop, Smithville and Austin are $2.79, $2.64, $2.35 and $2.02 respectively. The added initial tax rate for the Bastrop campus, alone, would add about 10 cents per $100 dollar valuation or about $100 per year for a $100,000 home. This may be a small sum when considered in isolation, but not when seen as one more bale of straw loaded on the backs of poor taxpayers. Of course higher education costs are skyrocketing nationwide and we could see steep tax increases in the future. Tuition at UT has more than doubled just since 2003 when Tom Scott and others led an effort to “deregulate” tuition. Build a Blinn College Campus at a centralized location, say, near Smithville: It’s my understanding that the Smithville ISD sends many students to Blinn College in Schulenburg and is known to generally oppose the ACC alternative. Blinn College already has a campus in Schulenburg, 48 miles from Bastrop. Another campus, or a small Distance Education facility, could be constructed nearer to Bastrop County, for example, in western Fayette County. Wait Until spending is under control: Our country is currently undergoing a serious economic downturn. Unemployment (measured as they did in the 1930s) is already approaching 20 percent while federal spending is racing out of control as the national debt rises to catastrophic levels. Rather than fix the current insolvent entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare, elements in Washington seem hell-bent on initiating new ones. Our country has been spent into bankruptcy by feckless national politicians.
While Bastrop taxpayers wring their hands over the irresponsibility in Washington, they have witnessed similar wasteful spending on a local level. Local taxpayers have financed a non-essential performing arts center, an unnecessary city hall, a dubious convention center and have spent huge sums on a local museum which has 1,200 visitors per year. Amazingly, justification for the convention center was partly based on cannibalizing existing trade from Bastrop private businesses. The Bastrop ISD turned down a $300,000 offer for an acceptable eight-court tennis facility in Tahitian Village in order to build a new, spiffy version for $1.2 million. Friends and neighbors, your intuitions are correct; your pockets are being picked. A college campus is more justifiable than any of these past programs, but the money has already been wasted, and the taxpayer’s assets have already been plundered. Meanwhile our road infrastructure is poor, we have inadequate fire protection and some areas are exposed to flood risk. Can we really afford to misuse our dwindling resources? Arguably, at this point our local politicians should be adopting a strict austerity program and shutting off all possible discretionary spending. Until the economic storm passes, construction programs for community colleges should be tabled and students should depend on the existing excellent alternatives.
Bob Parmelee Bastrop
|