Many who read this editorial may not see it as significant as it is, but it points out a very serious problem in our society, the unwillingness to face the facts and deal with them. Political correctness is killing us, figuratively and literally.
It is a hopeful sign that the member groups of ACTION see their vocation, the teaching and preaching of the gospel, as THE solution to the problems in our society. Whether ACTION follows its words with action will tell the tale.
The most serious root cause of the social ills in our society is the breakdown of the family. The family, composed of two biological parents and their biological children is the most successful of all "families" in our society. Even Barack Obama proclaims that in his book, "The Audacity of Hope." But his actions are to the contrary, with his efforts to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act, and other actions which damage the traditional family, and thus our society.
The basic value of the family is so simple that it has been taken for granted.
A look at the data on the breakdown of the family is alarming. Over fifty percent of children born in the US are born outside marriage. One consequence is the increase in poverty, where the rate among single female parent families is almost four times that of a family composed of two biological parents with their children.
But addressing this issue is hampered by the politically correct in our country, who prefer to find fault with others rather than fix responsibility with those who cause the problems.
This is no simple problem because there are so many aspects and so many forces in our society working against a real solution. The entertainment media preaches an anti-gospel thru MTV and other programs directed at our youth that glorifies and promotes anti-social behavior and ignores the consequences.
Government now preaches the same anti-gospel with schools handing out condoms, bringing in speakers who advocate promiscuity and funding all the anti-social behavior with taxpayers' money.
If ACTION is serious, it deserves the support of the community. If this is rhetoric, it deserves to close its doors.
The objective of my remarks was to provide information that would give a more complete and more accurate picture than the pro-Obama editorial.
Why no one ever challenged the legality of the engineered bankruptcy which ignored the rights of secured creditors under US bankruptcy laws is a puzzle.
Why no one ever challenged the legality of the US buying any company, and in particular the majority ownership in General Motors and ownership in Chrysler is also a puzzle.
It may be that this was the way the Obama administration didn't let the financial crisis go to waste, and found it as a way to pay back the unions for the hundreds of millions of dollars they put in his campaign. And they have the nerve to criticize Citizens United and the rights of corporations to make political contributions.
This is another example of the how the Obama administration has ignored US laws, with impunity.
Where in the Constitution does the executive branch have the power to purchase an automobile company? If the federal government can purchase controlling interest in GM, what next?
The insanity in the Obama administration "energy policy" to use terms loosely, is that it is killing the economy by attempting to supplant fossil fuels, especially coal, with alternative fuels that are not economically viable. Check out how much your electric bill will go up when they shut down coal fired electric generating plants.
Driving up the cost of energy drives up the cost of everything. In the 2008-2009 meltdown high fuel prices were the proverbial "straw that broke the camel's back" which pushed the fragile economy over the cliff. The high gas prices slowly but surely ground the economy to a halt, starting with the hospitality industry, the airlines, and finally GM because it made products that used too much fuel.
It is one thing for the government to subsidize research on alternative fuels, but another thing altogether to become a venture capitalist using tax dollars in financing companies which cannot produce a product that is economically viable, such as the Volt, Solyndra and similar failures.
You have to ask the question, why did General Motors and Chrysler need a bailout when Ford did not.
The information that I used in my original post came from the National Review. The article, entitled "Obama and GM Cook the Books" can best be summed up in this one quote from the article:
"Three years ago the [Obama] administration invested more than $100 billion taxpayer money to bail out General Motors. On Tuesday, the entire company, not just what the government owns, was worth less than $34 billion. By anyone's definition, that investment is a glaring failure."
With a traditional bankruptcy, General Motors would still be in business as a private company, hopefully free of overhead costs that brought it to the situation it was in, and with the potential for a better future than it has today.
Romney called for General Motors to undergo traditional bankruptcy, and that did not mean that General Motors would have been liquidated, as Democrats like to contend. That process would have left GM in a financial position that would have insured its viability without continued government support.
The Obama administration engineered a bankruptcy which favored the unions, left the GM stockholders without their rights under bankruptcy laws for secured investors, left the Delphi workers out to dry and left the taxpayers holding the bag for billions of dollars.
The federal government "invested" $100 billion in General Motors through TARP funds and future tax credits. That comes out to almost one half million dollars for every one of General Motors 202,000 employees worldwide. If you calculate that cost for US workers alone, it comes to over $1 million each.
The "investment" by the US government was actually more beneficial to GM employees in other countries, since only 90,000 of the workforce are employed in the United States.
Wouldn't it be great if we could afford that kind of investment by the taxpayers for every company in trouble.
The way the bankruptcy was engineered has left GM with legacy costs that will catch up with it again, but this time the taxpayer will be on the hook. Already the pension funds are not being fully funded.
It also makes it more difficult for GM to garner private investment, since most private investors will not forget what the government did to the original stockholders.
While no one wants to see auto workers unemployed, the truth in how GM was assisted is not reflected in this editorial.
The current reenvigoration of the Mahoning Valley is in spite of the Obama administration efforts and due to the natural shale gas findings, which has resulted in investments like V&M Star Steel, the hundreds of millions invested by natural gas companies, and other gas related industries. The Obama administration has followed an insane energy policy which does not favor fossil fuels.
The bailout of Chrysler has helped the Italian automaker, Fiat, more than it has helped the US economy, since Fiat is using the Chrysler profits made possible by taxpayers to shore up its failing markets in Europe.
When GM can pay back the investment to the United States, the Canadian government, and the Canadian provincial government of Ontario, with interest, then it will be considered a success. The jury is still out.
A little more balance in this issue would serve the public in being better informed.
If supporting jobs outside the United States is of concern, the bailout of General Motors and Chrysler ought to be of importance.
Prior to the bailout, General Motors had over 300,000 employees. Today, it has 202,000 worldwide with fewer than 90,000 of those in the United States. The bailout insured the jobs of 130,000 people outside the United States in countries like China, India, Mexico and in some countries in South America.
The bailout of Chrysler allowed a foreign company to take control, Fiat of Italy, which is now using the profits of Chrysler to shore up its failing Fiat brands in Europe. The bailout was more helpful to Fiat than to the old Chrysler.
Before the bailout, the United States had three privately owned domestic car manufacturers. After the bailout, we have one, Ford, which took no bailout.
What is left of Chrysler is now a foreign corporation, no different from Toyota or Honda, except it was funded by US taxpayers.
General Motors is now a United States and Canadian government entity for the most part with significant ownership by the unions.
The United States government has yet to recover $27 billion [$300,000 per US GM worker] from the bailout. In order to achieve that the 500 million shares of US owned stock would have to sell for $50 per share, about twice its value today.
Romney called for GM to undergo bankruptcy, which the Obama administration finally forced it to do. But in the process the unions were given favored treatment over secured investors.
The loss endured by GM stockholders will make it more difficult for the government to recover its money, because most private investors will worry that the same thing will happen to them that happened to past GM stockholders.
It is only appropriate that Vice President Biden visit a company whose principal officials have been such good contributors to the Democrat Party.
These principals have contributed about $30,000 to the party since 2005 including $20,000 to Tim Ryan and another $10,000 to the Democrat Congressional Campaign Committee.
M7 Technologies has been the beneficiary of a $2.4 million earmark sponsored by Tim Ryan.
What is missing from this issue is who invited Bob Hagan to speak at the commencement and why.
The Bishops need to realize that their alliance with the likes of Bob Hagan on matters of "social justice" will come back to bite them on matters of faith and morals.
Bob Hagan displays the same arrogance with respect to Catholicism as he does with respect to government. He has no schooling in theology but feels confident to consider himself equal to the Bishop on such matters.
If being an altar boy for six years qualifies someone for some "dispensation" or to speak with authority on matters of faith and morals, there would be utter chaos in the Church.
His arrogance on government comes through when he states that he was "saddened that the work I have done to feed the poor, clothe the naked, help cure the sick and to bring an end to the death penalty has fallen on deaf ears."
What he really means is that he spent other people's money on these issues while he has fed himself and family, clothed himself and entertained himself abundantly using the taxpayers money and the money of campaign contributors. His campaign finance reports are on the website of the Ohio Secretary of State and reflect the behavior of a self indulgent and hypocritical public official.
Bob Hagan will use any issue to promote himself, including the plight of prisoners at the maximum security prison in Youngstown along with his buddy, Staughton Lynd. Both need to get in touch with reality.
If you have ever read the novel, Animal Farm, it will be easy for you to see which of the animals most closely resembles politicians like Bob Hagan.
What Bob Hagan really needs to do is get some insight into his behavior and maybe a little humility would be in order. When he stands before God the fact that his actions were constitutional will cut him no slack.
That Osama Bin Laden was in Tora Bora and within the reach of the US forces in Afghanistan in late 2001 is not a proven fact, but the opinion of some in Washington, as promulgated in a report by the Democrat Senate majority which was signed by John Kerry. Even if he were, it is not clear that our military forces had the capability to kill or capture him at that time. A study of the terrain and the type of forces and equipment necessary to successfully conduct such a raid would support that.
President Obama took office on January 20, 2009 and Osama Bin Laden was killed by special forces on May 1, 2011, two years and 3 months later. What took him so long? What took so long was the development of intelligence through human sources.
It is clear that the location of Osama Bin Laden was determined through human intelligence, first by discovering that he communicated through a courier, and then through spies on the ground in Pakistan. The discovery that Bin Laden used a courier to escape detection was the result of interrogation of prisoners during the Bush Adminstration, and was just as essential to the demise of Bin Laden and actually necessary for the development of further intelligence which resulted in his death.
The documents seized in military actions were critical to destroying terrorists through other means such as cutting off their finances, identifying other leaders and identifying other locations to raid.
The Obama administration has embarked on a dangerous strategy which involves killing people rather than capturing them, thus denying our intelligence efforts the information necessary to totally eradicate our enemies.
While it was extremely important to kill Bin Laden, so was it important to take so many other measures that would serve to fight terrorism. Restricting interrogations to the Army manual is devastating to our intelligence efforts. People who will fly airplanes full of other people into buildings do not respond well to act to questions that begin with "pretty please." This is not only unrealistic but dangerous and we will suffer the long term consequences.
The Obama administration is making another strategic mistake in attempting to revert to treating the war on terror as a criminal effort, giving our enemies the protection of the Constitution which our enemies wish to destroy.
Obama made the right decision on ordering the killing of Bin Laden with a special forces raid rather than a drone attack. But Bin Laden was killed by our great military not Obama and they and the intelligence operatives deserve the real credit.
The use of this issue to suggest a political opponent would not have done the same is disgusting and below the dignity of the President of the United States.
The best remedy for the attitude of Ian Beneston and the rest of the Mahoning Valley Organizing Collaborative would be to put them to work in these stores, for just a week.
I think that would change their view.
The MVOC and other organizations of similar ilk, live off the revenue of tax exempt organizations or for government and have little idea of what those who pay the taxes go through.
Bertram, thanks for the application of common sense, a commodity that seems to be in short supply in these organizations.
Boardman officials have just exposed the tip of the iceberg when it comes to inequities in the overall system of revenues in Mahoning County.
It is time for the trustees of the other townships in the county to stop acting like potted plants and get involved in what the county administration does since it has an impact on the cost of their governments.. They owe that to their constituents who are struggling to pay property taxes.
While Boardman officials are quick to point out the inequity of the Local Government Fund distribution system, what they proposed in redistributing the sales tax revenues for Mahoning County was equally unfair and ill conceived. In Boardman, half the property taxes which support township government come from commercial properties, making the burden on the homeowner less. That is not the case in most townships. That is possible because of the location of so many businesses where residents of the entire county and other locations spend their money. Boardman isn't getting cheated.
The distribution of the LGF should be the starting point of many revisions to what the county does with respect to funds.
The myth of "poor Youngstown" needs to be re-examined. The City has a budget of $150 million while Boardman has a budget of less than $20 million with half the population of Youngstown.
The costly and dysfunctional criminal justice system wastes money that could reduce the cost to the taxpayers of the whole county.
The "economic development" tax abatement incentives provided to Youngstown that takes properties off the tax system shifts more of the burden of the $200 hundred million county programs to the townships. In return for these incentives, Youngstown should be encouraged to lower the 2.75% income tax rate and the 40% surcharge on water, both of which are paid mostly by nonresidents.
The federal, state and county governments located almost all government in Youngstown which feeds the city with the $45 million in income taxes mostly from suburban residents who work in the city.
There are many more.
What is needed is a council of township officials who would monitor the actions of the county and insure that all the residents of the county are treated fairly, not just those in Youngstown and Boardman.
Take aim at root causes of crime
Many who read this editorial may not see it as significant as it is, but it points out a very serious problem in our society, the unwillingness to face the facts and deal with them. Political correctness is killing us, figuratively and literally.
It is a hopeful sign that the member groups of ACTION see their vocation, the teaching and preaching of the gospel, as THE solution to the problems in our society. Whether ACTION follows its words with action will tell the tale.
The most serious root cause of the social ills in our society is the breakdown of the family. The family, composed of two biological parents and their biological children is the most successful of all "families" in our society. Even Barack Obama proclaims that in his book, "The Audacity of Hope." But his actions are to the contrary, with his efforts to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act, and other actions which damage the traditional family, and thus our society.
The basic value of the family is so simple that it has been taken for granted.
A look at the data on the breakdown of the family is alarming. Over fifty percent of children born in the US are born outside marriage. One consequence is the increase in poverty, where the rate among single female parent families is almost four times that of a family composed of two biological parents with their children.
But addressing this issue is hampered by the politically correct in our country, who prefer to find fault with others rather than fix responsibility with those who cause the problems.
This is no simple problem because there are so many aspects and so many forces in our society working against a real solution. The entertainment media preaches an anti-gospel thru MTV and other programs directed at our youth that glorifies and promotes anti-social behavior and ignores the consequences.
Government now preaches the same anti-gospel with schools handing out condoms, bringing in speakers who advocate promiscuity and funding all the anti-social behavior with taxpayers' money.
If ACTION is serious, it deserves the support of the community. If this is rhetoric, it deserves to close its doors.
May 27, 2012 at 8:49 a.m. permalink suggest removal
Biden sets stage for debate on area’s economic future
The objective of my remarks was to provide information that would give a more complete and more accurate picture than the pro-Obama editorial.
Why no one ever challenged the legality of the engineered bankruptcy which ignored the rights of secured creditors under US bankruptcy laws is a puzzle.
Why no one ever challenged the legality of the US buying any company, and in particular the majority ownership in General Motors and ownership in Chrysler is also a puzzle.
It may be that this was the way the Obama administration didn't let the financial crisis go to waste, and found it as a way to pay back the unions for the hundreds of millions of dollars they put in his campaign. And they have the nerve to criticize Citizens United and the rights of corporations to make political contributions.
This is another example of the how the Obama administration has ignored US laws, with impunity.
Where in the Constitution does the executive branch have the power to purchase an automobile company? If the federal government can purchase controlling interest in GM, what next?
The insanity in the Obama administration "energy policy" to use terms loosely, is that it is killing the economy by attempting to supplant fossil fuels, especially coal, with alternative fuels that are not economically viable. Check out how much your electric bill will go up when they shut down coal fired electric generating plants.
Driving up the cost of energy drives up the cost of everything. In the 2008-2009 meltdown high fuel prices were the proverbial "straw that broke the camel's back" which pushed the fragile economy over the cliff. The high gas prices slowly but surely ground the economy to a halt, starting with the hospitality industry, the airlines, and finally GM because it made products that used too much fuel.
It is one thing for the government to subsidize research on alternative fuels, but another thing altogether to become a venture capitalist using tax dollars in financing companies which cannot produce a product that is economically viable, such as the Volt, Solyndra and similar failures.
You have to ask the question, why did General Motors and Chrysler need a bailout when Ford did not.
The information that I used in my original post came from the National Review. The article, entitled "Obama and GM Cook the Books" can best be summed up in this one quote from the article:
"Three years ago the [Obama] administration invested more than $100 billion taxpayer money to bail out General Motors. On Tuesday, the entire company, not just what the government owns, was worth less than $34 billion. By anyone's definition, that investment is a glaring failure."
With a traditional bankruptcy, General Motors would still be in business as a private company, hopefully free of overhead costs that brought it to the situation it was in, and with the potential for a better future than it has today.
May 19, 2012 at 9:46 a.m. permalink suggest removal
Biden sets stage for debate on area’s economic future
Romney called for General Motors to undergo traditional bankruptcy, and that did not mean that General Motors would have been liquidated, as Democrats like to contend. That process would have left GM in a financial position that would have insured its viability without continued government support.
The Obama administration engineered a bankruptcy which favored the unions, left the GM stockholders without their rights under bankruptcy laws for secured investors, left the Delphi workers out to dry and left the taxpayers holding the bag for billions of dollars.
The federal government "invested" $100 billion in General Motors through TARP funds and future tax credits. That comes out to almost one half million dollars for every one of General Motors 202,000 employees worldwide. If you calculate that cost for US workers alone, it comes to over $1 million each.
The "investment" by the US government was actually more beneficial to GM employees in other countries, since only 90,000 of the workforce are employed in the United States.
Wouldn't it be great if we could afford that kind of investment by the taxpayers for every company in trouble.
The way the bankruptcy was engineered has left GM with legacy costs that will catch up with it again, but this time the taxpayer will be on the hook. Already the pension funds are not being fully funded.
It also makes it more difficult for GM to garner private investment, since most private investors will not forget what the government did to the original stockholders.
While no one wants to see auto workers unemployed, the truth in how GM was assisted is not reflected in this editorial.
The current reenvigoration of the Mahoning Valley is in spite of the Obama administration efforts and due to the natural shale gas findings, which has resulted in investments like V&M Star Steel, the hundreds of millions invested by natural gas companies, and other gas related industries. The Obama administration has followed an insane energy policy which does not favor fossil fuels.
The bailout of Chrysler has helped the Italian automaker, Fiat, more than it has helped the US economy, since Fiat is using the Chrysler profits made possible by taxpayers to shore up its failing markets in Europe.
When GM can pay back the investment to the United States, the Canadian government, and the Canadian provincial government of Ontario, with interest, then it will be considered a success. The jury is still out.
A little more balance in this issue would serve the public in being better informed.
May 19, 2012 at 7:18 a.m. permalink suggest removal
Vice President Joe Biden on stage at M7
If supporting jobs outside the United States is of concern, the bailout of General Motors and Chrysler ought to be of importance.
Prior to the bailout, General Motors had over 300,000 employees. Today, it has 202,000 worldwide with fewer than 90,000 of those in the United States. The bailout insured the jobs of 130,000 people outside the United States in countries like China, India, Mexico and in some countries in South America.
The bailout of Chrysler allowed a foreign company to take control, Fiat of Italy, which is now using the profits of Chrysler to shore up its failing Fiat brands in Europe. The bailout was more helpful to Fiat than to the old Chrysler.
Before the bailout, the United States had three privately owned domestic car manufacturers. After the bailout, we have one, Ford, which took no bailout.
What is left of Chrysler is now a foreign corporation, no different from Toyota or Honda, except it was funded by US taxpayers.
General Motors is now a United States and Canadian government entity for the most part with significant ownership by the unions.
The United States government has yet to recover $27 billion [$300,000 per US GM worker] from the bailout. In order to achieve that the 500 million shares of US owned stock would have to sell for $50 per share, about twice its value today.
Romney called for GM to undergo bankruptcy, which the Obama administration finally forced it to do. But in the process the unions were given favored treatment over secured investors.
The loss endured by GM stockholders will make it more difficult for the government to recover its money, because most private investors will worry that the same thing will happen to them that happened to past GM stockholders.
The jury is still out on the auto bailout.
May 16, 2012 at 3:19 p.m. permalink suggest removal
Valley residents convicted of workers’ comp fraud
Jump Start Child Development Center was paid over $416,000 by Mahoning County in 2008 for child care.
The Center has numerous judgments against it for nonpayment of various monies owed to the State of Ohio.
The building in which the center is located is delinquent to the county on property taxes.
Is this center still a county vendor?
May 16, 2012 at 7:01 a.m. permalink suggest removal
Biden will visit Valley company next week
It is only appropriate that Vice President Biden visit a company whose principal officials have been such good contributors to the Democrat Party.
These principals have contributed about $30,000 to the party since 2005 including $20,000 to Tim Ryan and another $10,000 to the Democrat Congressional Campaign Committee.
M7 Technologies has been the beneficiary of a $2.4 million earmark sponsored by Tim Ryan.
May 12, 2012 at 6:24 a.m. permalink suggest removal
Bishop, Hagan have ‘respectful’ meeting
What is missing from this issue is who invited Bob Hagan to speak at the commencement and why.
The Bishops need to realize that their alliance with the likes of Bob Hagan on matters of "social justice" will come back to bite them on matters of faith and morals.
Bob Hagan displays the same arrogance with respect to Catholicism as he does with respect to government. He has no schooling in theology but feels confident to consider himself equal to the Bishop on such matters.
If being an altar boy for six years qualifies someone for some "dispensation" or to speak with authority on matters of faith and morals, there would be utter chaos in the Church.
His arrogance on government comes through when he states that he was "saddened that the work I have done to feed the poor, clothe the naked, help cure the sick and to bring an end to the death penalty has fallen on deaf ears."
What he really means is that he spent other people's money on these issues while he has fed himself and family, clothed himself and entertained himself abundantly using the taxpayers money and the money of campaign contributors. His campaign finance reports are on the website of the Ohio Secretary of State and reflect the behavior of a self indulgent and hypocritical public official.
Bob Hagan will use any issue to promote himself, including the plight of prisoners at the maximum security prison in Youngstown along with his buddy, Staughton Lynd. Both need to get in touch with reality.
If you have ever read the novel, Animal Farm, it will be easy for you to see which of the animals most closely resembles politicians like Bob Hagan.
What Bob Hagan really needs to do is get some insight into his behavior and maybe a little humility would be in order. When he stands before God the fact that his actions were constitutional will cut him no slack.
May 9, 2012 at 6:16 a.m. permalink suggest removal
Year later, bin Laden killing remains a decision to behold
My name is Barack Obama and I approved this ad.
Editorials are opinion, but cut me a break.
That Osama Bin Laden was in Tora Bora and within the reach of the US forces in Afghanistan in late 2001 is not a proven fact, but the opinion of some in Washington, as promulgated in a report by the Democrat Senate majority which was signed by John Kerry. Even if he were, it is not clear that our military forces had the capability to kill or capture him at that time. A study of the terrain and the type of forces and equipment necessary to successfully conduct such a raid would support that.
President Obama took office on January 20, 2009 and Osama Bin Laden was killed by special forces on May 1, 2011, two years and 3 months later. What took him so long? What took so long was the development of intelligence through human sources.
It is clear that the location of Osama Bin Laden was determined through human intelligence, first by discovering that he communicated through a courier, and then through spies on the ground in Pakistan. The discovery that Bin Laden used a courier to escape detection was the result of interrogation of prisoners during the Bush Adminstration, and was just as essential to the demise of Bin Laden and actually necessary for the development of further intelligence which resulted in his death.
The documents seized in military actions were critical to destroying terrorists through other means such as cutting off their finances, identifying other leaders and identifying other locations to raid.
The Obama administration has embarked on a dangerous strategy which involves killing people rather than capturing them, thus denying our intelligence efforts the information necessary to totally eradicate our enemies.
While it was extremely important to kill Bin Laden, so was it important to take so many other measures that would serve to fight terrorism. Restricting interrogations to the Army manual is devastating to our intelligence efforts. People who will fly airplanes full of other people into buildings do not respond well to act to questions that begin with "pretty please." This is not only unrealistic but dangerous and we will suffer the long term consequences.
The Obama administration is making another strategic mistake in attempting to revert to treating the war on terror as a criminal effort, giving our enemies the protection of the Constitution which our enemies wish to destroy.
Obama made the right decision on ordering the killing of Bin Laden with a special forces raid rather than a drone attack. But Bin Laden was killed by our great military not Obama and they and the intelligence operatives deserve the real credit.
The use of this issue to suggest a political opponent would not have done the same is disgusting and below the dignity of the President of the United States.
May 1, 2012 at 8:22 a.m. permalink suggest removal
Attack on store owner was obscene
The best remedy for the attitude of Ian Beneston and the rest of the Mahoning Valley Organizing Collaborative would be to put them to work in these stores, for just a week.
I think that would change their view.
The MVOC and other organizations of similar ilk, live off the revenue of tax exempt organizations or for government and have little idea of what those who pay the taxes go through.
Bertram, thanks for the application of common sense, a commodity that seems to be in short supply in these organizations.
April 29, 2012 at 6:44 a.m. permalink suggest removal
Boardman questions allocation of Local Govt. funds
Boardman officials have just exposed the tip of the iceberg when it comes to inequities in the overall system of revenues in Mahoning County.
It is time for the trustees of the other townships in the county to stop acting like potted plants and get involved in what the county administration does since it has an impact on the cost of their governments.. They owe that to their constituents who are struggling to pay property taxes.
While Boardman officials are quick to point out the inequity of the Local Government Fund distribution system, what they proposed in redistributing the sales tax revenues for Mahoning County was equally unfair and ill conceived. In Boardman, half the property taxes which support township government come from commercial properties, making the burden on the homeowner less. That is not the case in most townships. That is possible because of the location of so many businesses where residents of the entire county and other locations spend their money. Boardman isn't getting cheated.
The distribution of the LGF should be the starting point of many revisions to what the county does with respect to funds.
The myth of "poor Youngstown" needs to be re-examined. The City has a budget of $150 million while Boardman has a budget of less than $20 million with half the population of Youngstown.
The costly and dysfunctional criminal justice system wastes money that could reduce the cost to the taxpayers of the whole county.
The "economic development" tax abatement incentives provided to Youngstown that takes properties off the tax system shifts more of the burden of the $200 hundred million county programs to the townships. In return for these incentives, Youngstown should be encouraged to lower the 2.75% income tax rate and the 40% surcharge on water, both of which are paid mostly by nonresidents.
The federal, state and county governments located almost all government in Youngstown which feeds the city with the $45 million in income taxes mostly from suburban residents who work in the city.
There are many more.
What is needed is a council of township officials who would monitor the actions of the county and insure that all the residents of the county are treated fairly, not just those in Youngstown and Boardman.
April 29, 2012 at 6:27 a.m. permalink suggest removal