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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]MoCo is a complete mess. The past decade has been a disaster on all fronts. No new industries while VA, DC, Howard and even Frederick have been growing. Poverty is increasing in the east and up county areas. School system has dropped from being 1st in the state to being 9th in the state. [b]Tax revenues are declining, debt service is increasing, no new funds for schools and the Kirwan commission is likely to reallocate 20-70% of state funding  from MCPS to Baltimore so its all going to get worse[/b].

The intra-county rivalry seems to be between the west which is sitting there wondering what happened and why they are still paying for all this and the east which keeps making dumb policies and thinks its deserves more and more resources from the west. The rural areas to the far west and north are basically ignored. I'd gather that no one in SS or Bethesda could find Dickerson on a map. They think Poolesville is in Potomac and no one ever traveled to Clarksburg before the outlets opened.

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This. So much this.

People don't seem to understand that to offer all the government services we MOCO liberals want, we need money for the government. That means a strong tax base. Like it or not, we need BUSINESSES and the rich property owners in Potomac, Bethesda, etc. But we've been driving all of them away. MOCO has very business-unfriendly policies and regulations. No one in their right mind would start a business in MOCO when they could go across the river and start it in VA. We might be able to get around that if we have a high enough individual tax base, but the two biggest factors for the wealthy when choosing where to buy a home are schools and commute. If they don't work here, because their business isn't here, they won't want to live here. For a long time it was the school system that saved us. MCPS was one of the best systems in the nation, so wealthy people wanted to live here anyway. That's no longer true.

MCPS is a disaster, even in Bethesda and Potomac. Central office is a mess. About 50% of the County's annual budget goes to MCPS and they're still a disaster. Schools are overcrowded and underfunded. Classes are too big. The physical buildings are crumbling. We don't pay teachers enough, and so the best ones don't want to work in MOCO. And the curriculum - I can't even. In attempting to close the achievement gap, we've dumbed down our better schools rather than lifting up those schools that struggle. We need a complete overhaul of the schools. We need to spend a few years cutting back on other programs and infusing cash into the schools (the actual schools, not central office). An "education surge" if you will. We need immediate construction/remodeling, better teacher pay, and better curriculum.

MOCO spends a TON of money on social service programs. Take a look at the Council's community grant awards. And we're the only County in MD that fully self-funds our Department of Health and Human Services. For everyone else, that department is a State office. And that's good - we are a County that wants to take care of each other, that doesn't want someone denied healthcare because they can't afford it, that doesn't want children to go hungry, and I want to live in a place like that.

But to do all those wonderful things, we need money. We get money by building a strong tax base. We build a strong tax base by: (1) being a place where successful businesses want to headquarter (and pay taxes, and employ people, who in turn pay taxes); and (2) having the best schools, which makes property values (and taxes) go up. It's really quite simple.

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Great summary. [/quote]

All so true[/quote]

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