Grassroots public reform encouraged by The Pittsburgh Foundation - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "The forum will cost $290,000. The money is coming from the Pittsburgh, Richard King Mellon, Grable, Hillman and Maurice Falk foundations."Give me a break. That is NOT going to work.
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As you read this article below, forwarded by Tom Koch, think about this: How many Indiana County, PA homeowners have lost their homes and most, or all of their equity to sheriff sales over the last 42 years for so called 'delinquent' property taxes they did not owe? Likely thousands of Indiana County homeowners and their families have lost many millions of dollars and had their lives disrupted by corrupt property tax assessments and taxes. The commissioners admit the property assessments are "out of balance"...which is a polite way of saying...THEY'RE WRONG and have been for decades.
It is a myth that if Indiana County eventually spends $2.5 Million for a countywide reassessment, this will mean the assessments will be fair and equitable. That has not proven to be true in Philadelphia, Allegheny County, Luzerne County, Fayette County and elsewhere. And the countywide reassessments will need to be redone every few years to comply with the Supreme Court ruling on base year assessments. That will cost millions more over the years.
Even the International Association of Assessment Officers (the professional organization of assessment officials) admits the inaccuracies of property taxes. The IAAO says any assessment within 10% of fair market value is deemed correct. However, if you and I have the same 'market value' home and you are over-assessed by 10% (by the IAAO standards of fairness) and I am under-assessed by 10%...you pay 20% more school, county and municipal property taxes than I do. You could pay hundreds, perhaps thousands of dollars more each year than I do. Is that fair and equitable? If so, are you willing to also pay 20% more income taxes on the same income as I have? Or 20% more on gasoline taxes per gallon? Or 20% more sales taxes on the same purchases as I do. If it's unfair for you to pay 20% more than me on all the rest of those taxes, why is it fair for you to pay 20% more than me on property taxes?
The property tax system on primary residences is systemically corrupt, unfair, inaccurate, costly and a huge drag on our economy. The system cannot be fixed and should be totally abolished and replaced with broader-based, equitable, and less costly to collect sales and income taxes.
The Legislative Budget and Finance committee (the same group mentioned below) studied the STOP Primary Residence Protection plan and found it fiscally sound and viable. You may contact them for a copy of their study.
The county commissioners are correct that the legislature must change the system; it can't be done by the county commissioners. But the commissioners have a role in demanding it be done. Your legislators have failed to correct this mess for 30 years. So why are you going to re-elect them?
Why would any commissioners support the re-elecction of legislators who have failed so miserably on this issue for three decades?
Learn more about why it is sensible and desirable to abolish all property taxes on primary residences and how it would create an economic boom in Pennsylvania at www.grandoldusa.com or www.spedunkie.com Hit on STOP.
THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE APPEARED IN THE INDIANA (PA) GAZETTE.
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Pittsburgh to host 2013 Frozen Four: "The NCAA has selected Pittsburgh as host of the 2013 Frozen Four hockey tournament, according to a source with knowledge of the situation.We were in Rochester, NY, when this happened recently -- and Rochester had its team in the Frozen Four.
The championship event, which is similar to college basketball's Final Four, will take place at the Consol Energy Center."
Ex-Cats trying to recapture their glory days in swimming: "It is so ironic. Beard used to be swimming's Next Big Thing, a gold medalist at 14. Now, at 28, she is attempting to qualify for her fifth Olympiad after giving birth to her son, Blaise, nine months ago.
'I'm nervous and excited,' the ex-Wildcat tweeted. 'I want to see where I am in my training. I'm crossing my fingers that my muscles remember.' Beard has not swum competitively for two years."
Report: City's liabilities shrinking, tax revenues growing - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "The $16,000 report was paid for by a grant from the Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority, one of two state-picked boards overseeing the city's finances since 2004."A 14 page report costs $16,000. That's more than $1,000 per page.
A Badge of Dishonor: Ravenstahl's Solution to Pension Crisis - The Point: "Even more absurd is that as a scare-tactic, Ravenstahl suggested that he might need to lay off four hundred police officers if we do not meet this deficit. Why are the police always seemingly the first to go? Those we need the most are apparently the most dispensable. Since apparently neither the citizens nor the police rank high on Pittsburgh’s lists of priorities, I ask again, how did this happen?"The Police are not always the first to go. There was a time when the swim pools and rec centers got to be first and worst. Then there have been crossing guards, rodent control, bus routes, Great Race, Civic Arena, Brownfield redevelopment, traffic engineers, pedestrian walkways and stairs, capital budgets, ice rinks, G-20 protestors, a fire station even was rumored to be on the first or next list. To continue, schools, airport terminals, ...
Despite a dead river rat and fish, some leaves and branches, and too-warm water, conditions were nearly ideal for U.S. Master Swimming's "Search for Monongy" event -- even if few knew what the event name meant.Erik and I rode our bikes to the North Shore to soak in the event yesterday and check it out. So, we were there as the reporter was doing the interviews, talking to our friends, the Goldmans and Dave -- both quoted above.
About midday Sunday, 52 swimmers swam a 1.2-mile loop in the Allegheny River -- some doing it twice -- from the Heinz Field boat ramp against the current to a turn-around under the Clemente Bridge. During the first-ever 1.2 and 2.4-mile open water swim, one swimmer had to be fished from the river with cramps and another couldn't complete the loop.
But the rest praised the "flawless" and "well-organized" event as one great, wet adventure.
52 take a swim in tepid Allegheny: "Jimmy Goldman, 73, of Squirrel Hill, and his son, Carl, 46, of Greenfield, rode bikes seven miles to the river before the elder Mr. Goldman swam 1.2 miles -- 1.3 miles counting a wayward detour -- and won his 70-to-75 age division. The younger Mr. Goldman finished the 2.4-mile competition at 54:14, second only to Robert Clark of Pittsburgh, who finished in 53:02."
Then the tireless Goldmans pedaled home.
"The important thing is getting fed," the elder Mr. Goldman said afterward, eating a doughnut then a sandwich. "There were leaves, one bottle and something dead, but the river was really clear and clean, and a hair on the warm side."
Actually it was a tepid 84 degrees Fahrenheit with a gentle 0.1 mph current.
Most swimmers have high-school and college swimming experience and now are members of swimming clubs, including the event sponsor, Allegheny Mountain Masters, the local chapter of U.S. Masters Swimming, an organization of amateur adult swimmers.
The U.S. Coast Guard closed the 0.6-mile segment of the river to boat traffic, with River Rescue and volunteer kayakers available to help swimmers in distress.
Two people entered the "white-knuckles" division that allows fins and floating devices, but the other 52 swimmers were buoyed only by confidence.
"There are no lines on the bottom, and it's hard to swim straight," said Matt Meade, 45, of Mt. Lebanon, after completing the 1.2-mile race. "It was inspiring going under the big [Fort Duquesne] bridge and looking side to side to see the big city. It was pretty special."
Brian Day, 50, of Canonsburg, finished second overall in the 1.2-mile race with a time of 30:01, despite going 400 yards beyond the turn-around buoy under the Clemente Bridge. Janet McDonough, 51, of Cranberry, posted the winning 1.2-mile time of 29:08.
"Once you are in, you are committed," Mr. Day said. "You can't grab the wall and rest."
Overall winners and runners-up received Dick's Sporting Goods gift certificates, while age-group winners won blue and red ribbons.
Event organizer Katherine Longwell, of Sewickley, and chairwoman of Allegheny Mountain Masters, said the "Search for Monongy" -- local river lore about a man-eating catfish named Monongy -- was so successful the so-called search will be repeated next year.
And, for sure, cheers erupted when Dave Watterson, 52, of Brentwood, was the last to emerge from the river, uneaten by Monongy, after the 2.4-mile swim. An organizer even proclaimed with sounds of surprise, "We didn't lose anybody." Drying off, Mr. Watterson said he was more than anxious to repeat the river hunt for Monongy.
"They should hold another one in January," he said.
Read more: http://post-gazette.com/pg/10193/1072155-51.stm?cmpid=newspanel1#ixzz0tWYQC1qD
Pittsburgh offers plenty of refreshing water havens during the summer months: "Pittsburgh offers plenty of refreshing water havens during the summer months"
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