a 51 millin dollar hole in a 200 million dollar budget is about 25%, we knew tax values and hence revenue was down, govenor has taken away what 9-12% and we still have a 25% deficit? come on someone better be asking questions. on my way to the county comission meeting.

The 51 million dollar hole comes from where a couple a years ago the State decided to spread the wealth and took the taxes that was generated in Baldwin County and redistributed the wealth throughout the state (does this sound familiar? ) Now the state has cut the education budget for the third year in a row but has not bothered to let Baldwin County have back the funds that they have taken away.
My husband is a teacher and will not receive his step raise this year.  We are happy that he still has a job, but I would rather see some of the coaches that are paid six figure pay cut instead of those that are in the trenches.

suzanne45 I agree with you 100%. I would rather them increase the sales tax than my property tax AGAIN. At lease that way everyone, including the non tax paying illegals, would have to contribute.  My husband and I both work and we do not live beyond our means. Between the illegals taking the work, property taxes & homeowner’s insurance going up, we had to refinance our house so we could keep making the payments.  My son will be graduating early this year.  I won’t have any children or grandchildren going to school and I still support a sales tax increase.

It seems Baldwin county it much like Mobile county.They don’t know how to make and keep to a budget! They just spend,spend,spend and then wonder what happened to the money.I think property taxes are something that need a drastic changing and for the most part unfair.Take me and the wife here in our home which we paid off years ago and probably will live here until our demise.Now every year our taxes go up as the value of the house goes down and the schools get their money and the county,especially since they changed to Annually instead of every four years.If it were left up to me,I’d go for a sales tax.Everyone has to buy something and not everyone owns a house or land and I believe it would be more evenly distributed in a sales tax and then educate the county commissioners on how to create and follow a budget,just like the rest of us do.

Claycity is right. Where does a $51 MILLION dollar hole come from? Could a hole that large not be seen far enough in advance to make adjustments? If not, then maybe the people handling the finances should not be in charge of the finances. You don’t try to turn a boat at the last minute before impact on the rocks. You see the rocks from way out by being dilligent and careful, and you make adjustments and change course LONG before the rocks can even become a threat. Perhaps the schools need new captains? Mutiny anyone? Seems like there are too many chiefs and not enough indians. If people in the past could see us now, they would laugh at us in bewilderment. Those that were educated in the early 1900’s through the 1960’s were so much smarter than we are today…and they did it for less money, much more efficiently in single room schoolhouses. Regardless of all of the ultra smart people running our school systems, they can’t seem to master the basic fundamentals of common sense.

Gee.  And I bet they make nothing off of what all the tourism brings in.  Are all the tourist Baldwin county property owners?  I wonder.  I wonder.

the property owners have an increase in thier property values because of better schools. they are the benificiaries of it, the additional property value which enables them to charge more fr it as they sell it and morefor ot as they rent it. if you have to have a tax, and you have several choices on who to tax, you dont tax the group that can afford to pay it the least, and if you believe in that kind of taxation it says a lot about someone. 1 cent to me may not be 1 cent to a farm worker. my original post stands, revenue is down so adjust your budget accordingly, its not a perfect world and we may have to run lean for a while. we are doing it at home the local governments need to do the same. a 51 million dollar hole in a budget ?? something is wrong.

“says a lot about one’s character”?  Stupid and pointless remark.

How do property owners benefit from improved schools?  Your statements are those of a wealth redistribution lover.  A sales tax is fair to all because a lot of the parents with kids in the schools rent and dont own property so the elderly and such that have no kids in school end up paying for it.  If they cant afford a sales tax increase maybe they shouldnt have kids i the first place.  As stated before BO wasn’t fibbing when he was running for office, your INCOME taxes will not go up one cent, its you OUTGO taxes that will end up skyrocketing.

well we will have to see if it passes but schools shoudlnt be financed with sales tax, property owners are the ones to benifit from improved schools, they should shoulder the burden, and proposing burdening the already overburdened when there are two choices available says a lot about ones character.