It's also a heads up for Realtors, as if you all haven't had enough to contend with in this difficult climate.
Nationally, the never-ending ObamaCare news has been bad enough, but can you believe the Cobb County School District now says it is suffering because of you, our seniors?
That's right. District policy makers have been quoted lately and, whether they know it or not, seem to be taking a play right out of the national left-wing handbook, by claiming they have suffered a $109 million loss in revenue from the homestead exemption given to seasoned citizens older than the age of 62.
They say because you are not getting taxed, you have cost them money. They even have a snazzy, jazzy bar graph and chart showing "revenue loss" with a five-year analysis of, let's face it, funds they haven't ever actually had but now really, really want. Never let a good crisis go to waste, because they sure highlight it a lot on their budget page at www.cobb k12.org/centraloffice /communications/news/2010/ Budget_Forum_infosht0310 .pdf) with a corresponding video talking about property tax discounts "few other counties allow."
I promise I'm as tired of school district news as any of you, but how can we let this particular scheme slide?
Is their new goal to tax our seniors more to make up for their own inability to grow a backbone and make the tough cuts?
"Everything's on the table," we keep hearing. But no details.
Double-dipper pensions? Wasteful spending? Bureaucrat jobs? Doubtful.
So what if their alternate agenda is actually a scheme whereby young homeowners are pitted intentionally against their elders to make up for the shortfall? As in, "How dare those old folks get a freebie and why don't they pay their fair share when little Johnny doesn't have astro turf yet?"
Yes, I realize I'm mixing my issues, but you get the point.
An Atlanta newspaper last week characterized the senior tax exemption as a "freebie," taking a clue or maybe even a direct quote from CCSD spokespeople. The topic has popped up randomly and anonymously on the MDJ Weblogs for a few weeks now, but has yet to ignite any fires. My guess is younger parents don't have time to peruse the blogs.
Is it only a matter of time before someone openly proposes a new tax for those now exempt?
If so, let's make sure we call it what it really is - a new tax, not "recovered revenue."
And if it happens, watch out. It'll be a firestorm.
Lbarmstrong3378@comcast.net
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Great article and I am so happy that you brought this to light. I am a 26 year old homeowner in Cobb County and I think to call the tax exemption that have been EARNED by seniors a "freebie" is obnoxious. Our seniors, in my opinion, are one of our most valuable resources. It’s impossible to supplement the decades of sweat that they have poured into Cobb County. To have some entitled politicly positioned EMPLOYEE of the state say that they are getting a "freebie" is a sin! I can’t say I’m surprised though ... these days "give me, give me, give me, what you got" is a common theme around ATLANTA. You can’t even catch a ride on MARTA without getting harassed by someone who believes that YOU owe them something. I have been following your articles closely now for over a month and I truly hope that you continue to dig into CCSD. They turn my stomach and their finger pointing tactics seem to know no bounds.
Thank you!
Now can someone please stop the never ending fund raising door bell rings.
If any CCSD Board, present or future, does away with the Senior tax exemption, they will quickly be dispatched from office. The Seniors, their Childern and Grandchildren will vote them out of office.
I really believe that current CCSD Board Members will be dispatched long before they can deal with the Senior issue.
However, I have since retired and part of my decision to retire was that my income would be (barely) enough without the tax. I can't afford to have Cobb County renege on that agreement now.
We moved to Cobb County from the Chicago suburbs because we were assured, by County Government officials. that Senior Citizens would never pay another cent in school taxes here. We really checked before we settled. We paid school taxes in Cook County, Illinois that were 5 times what they are in Cobb County today and we paid our own way to educate our kids for 40 years. We finally left Cook County because the politicians there taxed us out of the county and the state.
What we found in Cobb County was typical of the thinking of a majority of the current generation of school children parents. They always seem to want to get someone else to pay for what they think they deserve.
First they initiated a 1%, 5 year sales tax, called SPLOST, to milk the visiting suckers from out of state and the senior citizens who they promised to protect. Once they got that short term tax operational, they kept it running for 15 years and they still don't have enough. Now they want to go for broke and once again bury the seniors, who live on fixed incomes, in debt, to pay for their own excesses, like turf on football bields. They have a common malady. They think they deserve everything they want. I have written a book on that subject, for whatever thats worth.
Well, we moved to get here and we will move again if we must, to get away from the bloodsuckers of Cobb County. There must be someplace left in America where seniors are still appreciated and allowed to live out their "Golden Years" in peace.
If this is all that is left of the America that I once loved and risked my life in a shooting war to preserve, it wasn't worth the effort. Taxation without participation in its benefits is tyranny too.
The problem with our school system is all the illegal children allowed to attend our schools and the parents are not required to pay anything. Don't get me wrong, all children should get an education. But every child in our system should be required to be legal and if not returned to their own country for that eduction.
With that done you would not need to place undue stress on those of us who have done our fair share in the past.
We senior citizens still get the " HONOR " of paying
the SLOST tax when we shop in Cobb County. This one way
the school board is hurting us.
Why not end the BOE practice of double dipping CCSD teachers...they are a drain on revenues. If you retire from teaching you should not be allowed to return to work at your old job with full benefits. By doing this you deny the new kids on the block a job.