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PITTSBURG —
Pittsburg's "Imagine Pittsburg 2030" committee, and the political moron-in-chief in Topeka, need to grapple with what is probably the principal reason Kansas and Pittsburg lag economically: Outrageous individual taxes.
I moved from Joplin to Pittsburg in 2010. Here's my experience with Pittsburg costs: Real property taxes are 2.2 times Joplin, state sales tax is 1.5 times Joplin, trash pickup is 3.40 times Joplin, city real property taxes are 4.5 times Joplin, county real property taxes are 7 times Joplin, school real property taxes are 0.88 times Joplin, total sales taxes are 1.08 times Joplin.
Paying $2,200 in property taxes, instead of $1,000, is no great bargain.
Local businesses should be outraged over taxes that discourage people from living and shopping here. Despite high taxes, our schools get short-changed: Pittsburg USD-250 gets only 88% as much as did Joplin R-8.
Gov. Brownback's mantra is "get competitive". New businesses and employees will not accept real property taxes twice the norm just for the "privilege" of moving here. Squeezing the life out of Kansas property owners to favor business is just stupid.
Pittsburg, Crawford County, and Kansas need to get real and stop decimating the middle and lower classes with taxes. Kansas taxes are worse than I've had in Arizona, Arkansas or Missouri. And Kansas gets more federal welfare per person than New York, California or Texas!
Pittsburg is a nice city, potentially a great one, but if it weren't for family and friends here, I'd still live in Joplin.
Dick Thompson
Pittsburg
Pittsburg's "Imagine Pittsburg 2030" committee, and the political moron-in-chief in Topeka, need to grapple with what is probably the principal reason Kansas and Pittsburg lag economically: Outrageous individual taxes.
I moved from Joplin to Pittsburg in 2010. Here's my experience with Pittsburg costs: Real property taxes are 2.2 times Joplin, state sales tax is 1.5 times Joplin, trash pickup is 3.40 times Joplin, city real property taxes are 4.5 times Joplin, county real property taxes are 7 times Joplin, school real property taxes are 0.88 times Joplin, total sales taxes are 1.08 times Joplin.
Paying $2,200 in property taxes, instead of $1,000, is no great bargain.
Local businesses should be outraged over taxes that discourage people from living and shopping here. Despite high taxes, our schools get short-changed: Pittsburg USD-250 gets only 88% as much as did Joplin R-8.
Gov. Brownback's mantra is "get competitive". New businesses and employees will not accept real property taxes twice the norm just for the "privilege" of moving here. Squeezing the life out of Kansas property owners to favor business is just stupid.
Pittsburg, Crawford County, and Kansas need to get real and stop decimating the middle and lower classes with taxes. Kansas taxes are worse than I've had in Arizona, Arkansas or Missouri. And Kansas gets more federal welfare per person than New York, California or Texas!
Pittsburg is a nice city, potentially a great one, but if it weren't for family and friends here, I'd still live in Joplin.
Dick Thompson
Pittsburg
