Gothamist: Taxing Town

John

Sat, 14 Feb 2004 13:54:39 -0500

"Ending subsidies for private school buses and textbooks" Uhh, no. Bad enough parents with kids in private schools can't get a refund for something of absolutely no use to them.

kristen

Sat, 14 Feb 2004 02:48:57 -0500

Hey ! That's my coffee machine! It's AMAZING...

PatGav

Fri, 13 Feb 2004 20:33:15 -0500

The subsidies for school buses and textbooks are specifically permitted under NY law. by the way, this is the same program under which school children receive MetroCards to take the subway to and from school. Certainly, there are legitimate policy questions about the subsidies for private schools. But cutting those expenditures will also have a substantial impact on one of Klein and Bloomberg's pet initiatives: expanding the number of public charter schools here in the city. The state's charter law provides that public charter schools receive in-kind textbook aid (that is, the district provides some of the kids' books) and transportation aid to the same extent that the local district provides these to non-public schools. The enthusiasm for these schools arises in part from the need to serve areas with a rapidly growing student population (e.g. portions of Queens), as charter schools provide additional capacity and can help relieve overcrowding. Plus Bloomberg the businessman and Klein the trustbuster are attracted to the idea that charter schools are schools of choice which effectively compete with the schools (especially those that are low-performing) to which the city's students are traditionally assigned. Not to mention they are less expensive: New York City's public charter schools only get paid $7,848 per student they serve, compared to the more than $9,000 per student that the city spends per-pupil on traditional public schools. For less money, New York's public charter schools have the flexibility to ensure that reading rugs get cleaned on a regular basis. Cutting the textbook assistance and transportation aid will have a substantial impact on public charter school's ability to serve the city's students. Cutting the subsidy may be penny-wise, but it is pound foolish.

Jake of 8bitjoystick.com

Fri, 13 Feb 2004 17:25:30 -0500

The Mormons of Washington state were essential to getting the Latte tax on the ballot. I mean who else hates coffee more and were are only home to FREAKING STARBUCKS.

Coolfer

Fri, 13 Feb 2004 17:07:13 -0500

Let's just put up toll booths on the sidewalks. Charge a nickel to use a trash can. A dime to use a filthy urinal at a LES bar. Two cents to use a crosswalk. And any woman caught wearing Ugg boots should be fined $20. That should take care of any deficit in no time. The Ugg boot revenue alone could be a financial windfall.

tien

Fri, 13 Feb 2004 15:52:00 -0500

woohoo!! coffee tax!! as long as bloomberg doesn't impose a pizza specific tax, i'll be fine. and as far as i'm concerned, taxing coffee to help out child care is fine by me. it made sense to me in september.

Mase

Fri, 13 Feb 2004 14:39:54 -0500

Ending subsidies for private school buses and textbooks is definitely a good idea at least. However, many of the others are, as you explained, crazy.

Jake of 8bitjoystick.com

Fri, 13 Feb 2004 14:30:51 -0500

Right just look at how the Stupid Seattle Latte Tax failed to pass. They wanted to tax coffee like it was a sin item to pay for a raise for low income child care workers. They should have just taxes toys and Minivans. It ends up no one wanted to work for minimum wage if they had to deal with crack babies all day.

rm

Fri, 13 Feb 2004 14:27:39 -0500

Why is the staten island ferry free? $6 to drive there... just doesn't make sense.

Sterling

Fri, 13 Feb 2004 13:57:43 -0500

I can see it now: Fort Lee, NJ - Plastic Surgery Capital of North America.