Calvin so sexySubmitted by Ultraxxx t3_xyemo9 in ColumbiaMD
k0vi86 t1_irh4imz wrote
What has Calvin done besides raise property taxes?
phejster t1_iricwpb wrote
Taxes pay for things like roads, schools, police, etc.
If we cut taxes how will he fight crime and get our schools "back on track"? I'd rather have well maintained roads, have you driven in Baltimore lately?
ggkimmiegal t1_irikkmg wrote
I also like that our taxes are high to pay the teachers! Listening to my coworkers in Anne Arundel, most of them wish they were in HoCo now paying our high taxes.
k0vi86 t1_irit41a wrote
AA County step 4 base for teachers is actually higher than hoco. Hoco doesn't have step 1-3.
k0vi86 t1_irisczg wrote
Are you going to tell me how a bill becomes a law next?
The property tax hike a few years ago supposedly went specifically to the county fire departments. Pretty significant for a recurring tax.
Baltimore city has some of the highest property taxes in the state so not sure of your point.
phejster t1_irjf43v wrote
If you need to be reminded how government works, yeah I can do that for you.
Baltimore is a severely broken city, how it functions at the moment isn't an argument for lower taxes, it's an argument for rooting out corruption.
It's weird that Republicans only want to do that when it's a corrupt Democrat. Keep that same energy for corrupt Republicans.
k0vi86 t1_irjgkfl wrote
I was simply countering your lazy high property taxes = good.
Raising property taxes is a short cut when you could just optimize the budget. No one could tell me what Ball has done?
This is a mostly democrat state, so really only harris deserves criticism on a state level.
Anywho, Ball and Kittleman are pretty uninteresting in terms of making hoco residents lives better. I assume Ball will win, but I have little inspiration to vote for either of them.
setho212 t1_irksdbb wrote
Saying Ball raised property taxes is highly misleading. The property tax rate in Howard County did NOT go up since Ball has been CE. I haven’t looked at every one of the tax bills for my property for the past 20 years, but the tax rate is the same as 2017 (ie when Kittleman was CE) and is actually lower the rate from 20 years ago.
What did go up was the fire tax rate which went from .00176 to .00236. That right, the rate went up a whopping six one hundredths of a percent. Now the amount you are paying now compared to 2017 might be a lot higher, but that’s mainly because property values are significantly higher now than in 2017. So yeah the CE that you hate so much that is dragging the county into the gutter also presided over significant increases in county property values. Perhaps you should thank him when you sell your home and bail from the county you consider a sinking ship.
k0vi86 t1_irkt93y wrote
Lol you must be confusing me with another poster. All I said he hasn't done anything besides raise taxes and no one can counter it.
Good luck buying and selling a home with transfer and recordation taxes raised during ball's administration.
setho212 t1_irkwid3 wrote
You’re giving half assed information to rile people up. Property taxes have not gone up and the tax that has gone up is a minor increase.
As for recordation taxes, once again you’re avoiding numbers because the increases are minimal. The rate went from 1% to 1.25%. One quarter of a percent. $1,250 on a $500,000 home or $2,500 on a million dollar home. I’m not exactly shedding many tears for a person selling a million dollar home netting $2,500 less. Even more so considering how much property values have gone up in recent years. But then again some people are just greedy jerks that decry any tax increase, demand the county cut the budget, but complain about any decrease to the services that they like the best.
k0vi86 t1_irkx5w8 wrote
25% increase is not significant?
What has Ball done again? Not saying Kittleman is any less useless than him, I just want to hear someone give an example?
ConversationNext2821 t1_iri0nl8 wrote
He gave away free trees, never misses a photo opportunity, and shows how little he knows about complicated issues. Those are some things he is good at.
ttsci t1_irjeuqc wrote
Howard County has done tree distribution programs for years. I have several mature trees in my yard from the 2010 distribution, and they were given away from 2017-2022, which includes both Republican (specifically, Kittleman) and Democratic executives.
What a weird thing to be mad about.
ConversationNext2821 t1_irjoar6 wrote
Ah so he’s even more useless than I gave him credit for. Thanks for correcting the record.
So he has even less of an excuse for dealing with the increase in handgun crimes, robberies, and carjackings that have become a regular tradition in Calvin Ball’s Howard County.
setho212 t1_irksom3 wrote
Ah yes the Howard County is a crime riddled hell hole argument. I shudder every time I leave my house at the fear of bullets flying.
ConversationNext2821 t1_irktwdu wrote
Clearly you don’t read the HoCo Police Blotter. Ignorance is not an excuse.
And I live in an area of Columbia that has had several fatal shootings in the last few years. All of which were tragedies. No one deserves to lose their life like that. So excuse me if I don’t find any of your snark at all funny.
setho212 t1_irkxezv wrote
Give me stats, don’t give me anecdotes. How much exactly have all types of crime gone up in the county and how much have they gone up on comparison to surrounding jurisdictions. How many of those crimes were committed by people from outside of the county on other people from outside the county but they just happened to be in the county. How many of the the victims of those crimes were innocent people and how many were targeted crimes based on drug deals that went bad or something similar. You need to present the full story and not just say have you see how many crimes are reported lately.
Of course every death or shooting is a tragedy, but the way Kittleman and his right wing followers are using crime as a political talking point is disgusting. We hear residents of rural western Howard county decrying the increase in crime based primarily on anecdotes about events in eastern Howard County. We hear people decrying shootings, many of which are targeted and are not random events putting innocent lives at risk. We have commercials complaining that SROs are not in school to protect kids against school shootings without any explanation as to how a single police officer with a pistol is supposed to stop a lunatic with an AR-15 shooting into crowds of panicked students. The crime argument is nothing but fear mongering aimed at appealing to a certain crowd that spends more time worrying about some “thug” mugging them than thinking logically.
Skulbalski t1_irh5fxz wrote
Kept people out of churches and small businesses while allowing other large corporate places to stay open during COVID.
phejster t1_iricpv2 wrote
Oh no! Not churches lol
ConversationNext2821 t1_iri0r3q wrote
Speak the truth, my friend. Not sure why you are downvoted for speaking the truth. Well, I do. It’s because the element that likes Smilin’ Cal don’t care about facts and truth, they care about feelings.
BakeBeginning7863 t1_irhdc9w wrote
Fair point. People here are wild. They just want to pay more taxes I guess. Free load
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