Back when Corbett was running for governor, he promised not to raise taxes. With this new budget proposal, he technically is sticking to that - but at what other expense?
No, Corbett isn't raising taxes, but he is cutting the funding for education, sending school districts back to levels of funding they were at a few years ago. To make up for the lost money, what are the districts going to have to do? Raise taxes. So Corbett looks good - at least for refusing to raise taxes and keeping promises - and the school districts are suddenly the bad guys, when they don't have much other choice. Keep in mind that while they did get stimulus money, they were told how to spend it.
Naturally, Fayette County residents are aware of this and are not pleased. Can Fayette County residents afford higher taxes? Certainly some, but not all. Not with 16.5% of residents living in poverty as of 2009. Not to mention the 18% with an income below the poverty level and the 7.7% below 50% of the poverty level. Or the 9.9% unemployment rate as of April 2010.
So if this goes through, what happens? Fayette County only stands to suffer even more. As I've said before, we need help. We're not getting it.
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