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RI/PVD Economic Development Issues

Lova

By Lova
in Rhode Island

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Recchia Town

Recchia

Posted
Posted

Some good news for the Rhode Island economy: Brown & Sharpe to stay in RI.

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Well that's good. I still don't know what to think of Quonset. It'd be so much better if the commuter rail were to end there and they could build some kind of transit oriented or transit supportive development there, especially with the FRIP adding rail capacity down to Quonset. But it's already too disconnected and sprawled out, and then there's the highway they're concentrating on building, and the plans for Wickford Junction on the commuter rail.

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Recchia Town

Recchia

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Is part of the problem with Providence's school system that it is underfunded due to a low tax base? If it is, what does everyone think about tax-base sharing for the Providence metro area, like Minneapolis-St. Paul does? I'm interested to know if something like this works well to help public schools.

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gregw Hamlet

gregw

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Much of the problem with the Providence school funding issue has to do not with a low student spending ratio but with the fact that much of the school population comes from poverty and that brings a lot of expenses to the task of educating the population. Also there are numerous state and federal un- or underfunded mandates that place a huge financial burden on the system. Additionally, teacher contracts have tended to be generous, which further drives up costs.

In short, we pay a lot for education but it is very expensive in Providence for the reasons mentioned above. The burden falls heavily on local property taxpayers (and indirectly on renters) while the state contributes very little (RI is near the bottom) in terms of aid to education. Cicilline and some of the other mayors (including some Republicans like Avedesian from Warwick) are trying to make the state contribute more and the cites and towns less. This would shift the burden somewhat from property taxpayers and more to income and sales tax.

Don't count on this happening anytime soon. Basically, people say they're pro-education but when push comes to shove they don't want to pay for it. We then have the same undereducated population that keeps employers from setting up shop here.

Is part of the problem with Providence's school system that it is underfunded due to a low tax base? If it is, what does everyone think about tax-base sharing for the Providence metro area, like Minneapolis-St. Paul does?  I'm interested to know if something like this works well to help public schools.

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Cotuit Megalopolis

Cotuit

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There was a story in the ProJo today about summer lunch programs in city parks (there's a chuck-wagon that heads to the city parks and feeds kids, no questions asked). The article stated that 75% of Providence public school children are eligible for school lunch assistance programs.

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Frankie811 City

Frankie811

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There was a story in the ProJo today about summer lunch programs in city parks (there's a chuck-wagon that heads to the city parks and feeds kids, no questions asked). The article stated that 75% of Providence public school children are eligible for school lunch assistance programs.

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Well, here's another example of a non-long time resident not knowing what goes on in the city. The summer lunch time program has been going on in the city for Y E A R S !!!!!!!!!!! Chuck-wagon???????? Real classy! Were talking baloney sandwhiches here. One slice.

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Cotuit Megalopolis

Cotuit

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Well, here's another example of a non-long time resident not knowing what goes on in the city. The summer lunch time program has been going on in the city for Y  E  A  R  S  !!!!!!!!!!!    Chuck-wagon????????  Real classy!  Were talking baloney sandwhiches here. One slice.

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I never said I had a problem with the program, I think it's great, kids need to be fed.

chuck wagon n.

A wagon equipped with food and cooking utensils, as on a ranch or in a lumber camp

Doesn't imply haute cuisine.

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Lone Ranger Burg

Lone Ranger

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"It doesn't usually happen this way; they usually leave," said John Grady, executive director of the Rhode Island Manufacturers Association, a trade group representing Rhode Island manufacturers, including Bradford.

"I was hopeful that they were going to stay. I don't remember anyone in the last four years staying here in Rhode Island. I think it really shows that Bradford Soap was committed," Grady said.

So sad. As happy as I am about projects like Waterplace and 110, I'm equally as sad to think that all the luxury towers in the world are nothing until our economic climate improves. :cry:

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pete11 Whistle-Stop

pete11

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Very well put :(

Jenkins is it Econ 305 to suggest that the workers at the plant get to take a pay cut, as the state pays tens of millions of dollars as subsidies for luxury condos? This credit bubble will have some serious consequences for secondary and tertiary cities, but what really sucks is who gets to pay the price. I have many more opinions on this issue but will keep them to myself, as they will become evident in the coming years.

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Cotuit Megalopolis

Cotuit

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The state did what they could to keep RenaMed. The company needed a plant tomorrow, and there simply was no place in RI where the could expand to. If they had time on their side, I'm sure the state would have helped them build a new facility, they simply did not have the 18-24 months it would take to build from scratch.

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pete11 Whistle-Stop

pete11

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The state did what they could to keep RenaMed. The company needed a plant tomorrow, and there simply was no place in RI where the could expand to. If they had time on their side, I'm sure the state would have helped them build a new facility, they simply did not have the 18-24 months it would take to build from scratch.

Was talking about Bradford Soap.

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jencoleslaw Town

jencoleslaw

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i could be making this up but if we just added a real estate transaction fee to every real estate transaction over a certain amount of money, or a .10% tax on transactions over a certain amount we could totally fund an affordable housing trust fund. Can you imagine the money that could have been put in that fund if it existed over the last few years? I mean, you could word it so that owner occupied homebuyers buying first time homes, or affordable homes are exempted or only apply it to "investment properties" or even just apply it to properties that are resold within 6 months to get all those "flippers."

anyway, i don't want to hear from the governor that we have to worry about the budget. The money is out there.

Oh, and how about special license plates that have a surcharge that goes along with it to be earmarked for special projects? Like an urban forest plate goes to urban forestry issues, and a plate with cats on it is for humane society type issues, etc. And the same for the lottery!? Not all the money in RI has to go into that damned general fund. I would pay an extra fee to have a cool (not vanity) license plate! I would buy scratchy lottery tickets if a portion of the cost of the ticket went into an affordable housing trust fund. When i lived in VA there were 100s of specialty license plates to choose from. How come we can't do something like that?

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Jerry2 Hamlet

Jerry2

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i could be making this up but if we just added a real estate transaction fee to every real estate transaction over a certain amount of money, or a .10% tax on transactions over a certain amount we could totally fund an affordable housing trust fund. Can you imagine the money that could have been put in that fund if it existed over the last few years? I mean, you could word it so that owner occupied homebuyers buying first time homes, or affordable homes are exempted or only apply it to "investment properties" or even just apply it to properties that are resold within 6 months to get all those "flippers."

anyway, i don't want to hear from the governor that we have to worry about the budget. The money is out there.

Oh, and how about special license plates that have a surcharge that goes along with it to be earmarked for special projects? Like an urban forest plate goes to urban forestry issues, and a plate with cats on it is for humane society type issues, etc. And the same for the lottery!? Not all the money in RI has to go into that damned general fund. I would pay an extra fee to have a cool (not vanity) license plate! I would buy scratchy lottery tickets if a portion of the cost of the ticket went into an affordable housing trust fund. When i lived in VA there were 100s of specialty license plates to choose from. How come we can't do something like that?

There is a mortgage tax in a few states, most notably New York and Florida. The proceeds are used to leverage the property tax burden to all homeowners. The real problem with home ownership in R.I. is the escalating property taxes, not the mortgage payment, contrary to belief. A mortgage tax prevents flipping, lessens the chance of becoming victim to predatory lending, and gives property tax relief to everybody. On a 500K home in NYC, one would pay approx.$ 2500 per year in property taxes. Here in R.I., they would pay more than $ 7000 depending on what community they reside in...However, if somebody is a serial refinancer in NY, they willbe subject to severe tax penalties. It helps curb the wave of foreclosures and allows more people to enter the home ownership market. ( esp. w/ first-time homebuyer subsidies) In RI, there have been too many people using their homes like ATM machines, therefore resulting in RI leading the nation in foreclosures...

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Lone Ranger Burg

Lone Ranger

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When i lived in VA there were 100s of specialty license plates to choose from. How come we can't do something like that?

Yeah, between them, Virginia & Florida probably have more specialty plate options than the other 48 states combined. :blink:

No, seriously. Check out this list of Florida specialty plates. Which reminds me of a line from a song (as most things do): "In New York, freedom looks like/ Too many choices."

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Jerry2 Hamlet

Jerry2

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We don't need more social service outlets to provide home ownership opportunites to people that can least afford it or mentally handle it. We need a system in place to give home ownership opportunities to people that are priced out of the market, but could otherwise afford it...

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jencoleslaw Town

jencoleslaw

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We don't need more social service outlets to provide home ownership opportunites to people that can least afford it or mentally handle it. We need a system in place to give home ownership opportunities to people that are priced out of the market, but could otherwise afford it...

an affordable housing trust fund could fund rental units, not just owner occupied single family units.

And when folks talk about "affordable" what most people mean is housing for people who are priced out of the market, you know--like working class housing--houses for people who work in non profit, or teach in public schools or are firefighters.

"Subsidized" is housing for people who need the government to pay part of their mortgage,or rent, or pay a reduced rate because the government subsidzed the project.

affordable and subsidized are two different animals.

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