Me, Again, my community has no community center, no street lights and no park. I don’t know who you have me mixed up with, but our community has nothing. I pay every little tax known to the working American and I cannot see where my taxes have went to either.  It sure wasn’t to build us a community center, street lights, park or even to just repair our school. The children at the middle school this year might have finally gotten the cafeteria fixed after Katrina did damage I’m not sure, but they had bag lunches for a long time and they are still working on parts of the school. If those taxes you say they take out of our check are supposed to go to the community, then we basically should have a Beverly Hills Drive somewhere around here because I’ve been paying taxes for 30+ years and my parents before that and a whole town full of people like us. Maybe they took that tax money and hid it at the end of a rainbow.  Hmmm… I bet that’s where it’s at.

Kris I really don’t think you understand where I am coming.  How do you know the only people that voted for annexation are people that recieved free lunches and foodstamps. Who are these people that you continiue to speak of and why is that revilant to me. My point is nothing is ever free, so thats why everything we buy they take out that little thing called taxes to help pay for the things that every community may need from time to time.  I just want to know for the past 50+ years that our community have been paying taxes for where is the money never seen it.  Not such a penny seen maybe it went to the nice community center that your community got or the walking trail but where i live nothing

My point about this whole subject is, “you shouldn’t go through life expecting anything from anyone”. That way you are not disappointed if you never receive it.  My parents would have given me the shirt off their back if I had asked for it, but I wanted to be independent. When I buy something with my own money that I have worked hard for, I really appreciate it more.  People have been given so many things in this world that they really do not appreciate what they do have. I have worked hard to get what little I have, but it is definitely mine and the government did not give it to me. That is why I would not want to be annexed because before long they would be telling me what I could do with what is on my property, etc. A lot of people who wanted to be annexed do not own their property, get foodstamps, free lunches at school, free this and free that, so free garbage pickup was right down their alley. I can understand people down on their luck, but not for the rest of their lives.

If you think you feel bad about paying taxes for schools look at my case. I’m on Social Security and I’m paying taxes,property and all the others on two school systems,Mobile county’s and Saraland’s.

So what’s the better scenerio, 1tyrant 30miles away or 30tyrants 1mile away?

Kris, well to let you know I also am married with no kids.  But yet I do pay school taxes but for the CHILDREN not the irresponsible parent.  So i don’t know who your comment was brought up.

I wonder if you have spent much time in the county if you have to ask what is so pleasurable about living in the county.  I moved from the city and think it is great in Semmes.  We have a lot of community activities - ballpark, walking trail, Azalea festival, Easter egg hunt, Christmas parade, tennis courts, and a library which will open shortly, to name a few.  As for the library, the community raised more than $350,000 for the books for the library. Also, the community raises money for the Relay for Life, an event at MGM, it has raised more than $50,000.  For me, I also enjoy my camellia lined driveway and look across the street to a small nursery.  I have met so many more people out here in a short time than I ever did in town.

Also as a single person with no kids and past that age, I pay taxes out the ying yang for everything. I pay city takes on certain things, county taxes on certain things, federal tax, state tax, and all them taxes that come out of my paycheck.  School tax too. Now, why should I pay school tax when I don’t have any kids going to school? I guess I have too ‘cause most of those folks with multiple children with no daddy has to go to school and get free lunch, free breakfast, foodstamps to eat steak and drive a cadillac.

Me - You have me mixed up with JudyH. The county or the city has never done much our way. Every once in a while a bush-hog will come down our road and mow the sides (poorly), but most folks on our road use their own lawnmower and mow out in front of their house and across the road from them if they don’t have a neighbor. ME- you also ask “And whats so pleasurable about living in the county than the city”. Oh my dear let me count the ways.  To start with your neighbor doesn’t know every time you flush the toilet. Most times they don’t even know if you are home or not. As far as a park? I just go out in the back yard and look off in the distance and all I see are fields of grass, then there is a catfish pond. You can see the stars at night.  You hear the hound dogs off in a distance. You don’t hear rapid firing of a gun or cars going down the road that almost cause an earthquake with what I call literally “noise”. I could go on and on about the pleasures of living in the county/country.

We also have recently raised enough money through private donations to secure our own library!  The Community of Semmes really pulls together on things. 
Like the ball park—people actually put their homes up at collateral for the loan for the ball park….  that’s how much the parents put their neck on the line. 

With so much business being down there in the Tillmans Corner/Theodore area, I’m surprised that you can’t get some businesses to help you out to raise money for parks and such.  I’m sure that area is much richer that our area up here in Semmes.  There are so many more busineses, etc.