Fluent Essays

In this essay you are mainly focused at the local level.  Notice that you are reading pieces addressing property taxes, local finances, housing markets, and trying to figure out how they all fit together—which is what I want you to do in this assignment. You willnoticehow the housing market affects property taxes and, in turn, that affects school district budgets.  Property taxes are a major concern atthe local government level.  One of the pieces you will open shows you how much local governments depend on the property tax.As a result of working your way through these readings, what can say about the financial squeeze placed on local governments (which also meansplaced on school districts)?You will see how much local governments and school districts relyon the property tax.  How do you look at the housing market in the context of these readings?What you think the future (maybe the next few years) holds for local governments and school districts?GUIDELINES FOR THIS ASSIGNMENT1)Your paper should be a minimum of five typed pages2)I do want you to develop a chart using EXCEL.  I have a piece titled INFORMATION ON HOUSING PRICE CHANGES.  Develop your chart by using the data for ST LOUIS, KANSAS CITY, and SPRINGFIELD in Missouri in that piece.  Begin the data with 2007 2 (that means the second quarter in 2007).  There is a piece titled USING EXCEL FOR YOURCHART, so information is in there on how to do your chart.3)There are several other pieces that are just filled with data, which can help you in writing your essay, MEDIAN PRICE SALES OF NEW HOMES SOLD, and, LOCAL PROPERTY TAXES AS A PERCENTAGE OF LOCAL TAX REVENUE.  So here is where you have just data that you can rely upon to writeyour essay, not just the readings I have given you. Attach is the information for the spreadsheet and also some information from articles that need to be include in the paperSheet1 2007-4 2008-1 2008-2 2008-3 2008-4 KC -0.44 -0.64 -1.79 -3.27 -3.44 Spring 1.55 0.51 -0.65 -2.18 -2.22 St Louis 0.59 0.2 -1.42 -2.56 -2.95 USING EXCEL AND CREATING a 2D CHART 1-----Follow the method above to create the data tables. Notice that you keep adding 2009-1, 2009-2, 2009, 2009-4, etc 2-----Highlight the entire table once you are done. You can see the three Missouri metropolitan areas (Kansas City, Springfield, St Louis) 3-----Once you have highlighted the table you put together then go to INSERT at the top where you see the tabs, go to LINE and choose 2D 4-----The graph was created from the table you put together 5-----Use this graph to develop your analysis of changing house prices in the three Missouri metropolitan areas. Based on that you can develop some analysis regarding property taxes and their impact on, say, school districts. One of the data pages that is included in this assignment shows you what property taxes are as a percentage of local finances. 6-----This may appear technical, but it really is not. You are using data, creating tables and then turning that into a chart and from that developing some basic observations about an aspect of policy planning. Part of policy analysis is try to anticipate problems on the horizon KC 2007-4 2008-1 2008-2 2008-3 2008-4 -0.44 -0.64 -1.79 -3.27 -3.44 Spring 2007-4 2008-1 2008-2 2008-3 2008-4 1.55 0.51 -0.65 -2.1800000000000002 -2.2200000000000002 St Louis 2007-4 2008-1 2008-2 2008-3 2008-4 0.59 0.2 -1.42 -2.56 -2.95 2007-4 2008-1 2008-2 2008-3 2008-4 Sheet2 Sheet3SOURCE: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/wherewestand/reports/finance/how-do-we-fund-our-schools/197/ PBS Where We Stand September 5th, 2008 Finance How Do We Fund Our Schools? “Poverty must not be a bar to learning, and learning must offer an escape from poverty,” - President Lyndon Johnson, 1965 It’s a little known fact that when it comes to the funding of our schools, the U.S. Government contributes about 10 cents to every dollar spent on K-12 education – less than the majority of countries in the world. And it wasn’t until 1965, when President Lyndon Johnson passed the Elementary and Secondary Education Act as part of his War on Poverty, that the federal government created a lasting program to fund K-12 education. So where does the bulk of the money for our 14,000 public elementary and secondary school districts schools come from? State and local governments. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, state and local funding accounts for approximately 93 percent of education expenditures. What’s the source of these funds? In most states, it’s sales and income taxes (both corporate and personal). But on a local level, these funds usually come from property taxes, which are set by the school board, local officials or citizens. It’s this system that causes the most dramatic differences between states, and even within districts. http://www.pbs.org/wnet/wherewestand/reports/finance/how-do-we-fund-our-schools/197/ Depending on the property wealth of a community, its schools might boast gleaming buildings and equipment, or they might be dilapidated – struggling with the burden of outdated equipment and unpaid bills. According to the most recent Funding Gap report by the non-profit group The Education Trust, many states still provide the least amount of funding to school districts serving students with the greatest needs. In 1999, for example, Illinois’ funding gap was the second-largest in the nation. By 2005, the Illinois gap was still the second-largest, and had gotten worse. Illinois is joined by Florida, Idaho, Kansas, Maine, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia and Wisconsin at the top of the list of states in which the funding gap between high- and low-poverty districts grew between 1999 and 2005. Jonathan Kozol, the education activist, teacher and author, famously described these “gaps” in his 1992 book Savage Inequalities: Children in America’s Schools. That same year, he told an interviewer: “We need to have urban schools that are so good that they will not be abandoned by white people, and this is impossible without equitable funding. Until we have equitable funding for our urban schools, there’s no chance in the world that white people in large numbers are going to return.” These inequities have led to court challenges in almost every state. And in the majority of them, the THE PEW CHARITABLE TRUSTS AmERICAn CITIES PRojECT Falling Revenues and Growing Demand for Services Challenge Cities, Counties, and School Districts The Local Squeeze JUNE 2012 The Pew Charitable Trusts is driven by the power of knowledge to solve today’s most challenging problems. Pew applies a rigorous, analytical approach to improve public policy, inform the public, and stimulate civic life. Pew’s American Cities Project focuses on the biggest city in each of the nation’s 30 largest metropolitan areas and helps policy makers understand key challenges and promising approaches. The project conducts original research on three major topics: The fiscal and economic challenges facing cities; the important demographic changes they are undergoing; and their short- and long- term ability to deliver core services in the face of tight budgets and heightened needs. PRojECT TEAm Susan K. Urahn, managing director, Pew Center on the States Research and writing Liz Gross Kil Huh Abigail Sylvester Robert Zahradnik Editorial Larry Eichel Diane Fancher Lori Grange Communications Jeremy Ratner Liz Voyles Gaye Williams Design and web Jennifer Peltak Evan Potler Frederick Schecker Carla Uriona EXTERnAL REVIEWERS This report benefited tremendously from the insights and expertise of three external reviewers. These experts provided feedback and guidance at critical stages in the project. While they have screened the report for accuracy, neither they nor their organizations necessarily endorse its findings or conclusions. Tracy Gordon, fellow, Economic Studies, The Brookings Institution Chris Hoene, director, Center for Research and Innovation, National League of Cities Frank Shafroth, director, Center for State and Local Government Leadership, George Mason University ACKnoWLEDGmEnTS Valuable research support was provided by the following Pew staff members: Nancy Augustine, Brandon Brockmyer, Jeff Chapman, Maggie Clark, David Draine, Ike Emejuru, Samantha Harvell, Brendan Hill, Melissa Maynard, and Matt McKillop. We also thank the many experts in the field who were so generous with their time, knowledge, and expertise. For additional information, visit www.pewstates.org/cities. This report is intended for educational and informational purposes. References to specific policy makers or companies have been included solely to advance these purposes and do not constitute an endorsement, sponsorship, or recommendation by The Pew Charitable Trusts. ©2012 The Pew Charitable Trusts. All Rights Reserved. 901 E Street NW, 10th Floor 2005 Market Street, Suite 1700 Washington, DC 20004 Philadelphia, PA 19103 The LocaL Squeeze iii Contents executive Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 a Drop in Key Revenues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 State aid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .