Good morning, out there (as opposed to "in here", which would be awfully crowded - and silly).
It's about 34 degrees here, with some places in town reporting temps as high as 40. We got up to 63 yesterday, with clear blue skies & brighter sunshine than we've experienced in awhile ... it felt hot, to us. AccuHunch is guessing we'll get into the low 60s again today, and we probably will.
Mt. Redoubt continues to smoke a bit, and grumble quietly, but hasn't erupted in a threatening way for several weeks. That's just fine with all of us. The ash we have on the ground here is already a nuisance, and we're going through air filters on the cars like kids go through Halloween candy ... if left unattended by parents.
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The Municipality of Anchorage has raised the property tax rates by 5.5 percent. Some homeowners are starting to get squeezed by the rising taxes, and a LOT of folks showed up at the hearing, earlier this week, wearing clothing adorned with tea bags. It didn't stop our elected "representatives", though.
Part of the problem, as I see it, is that there are entirely too many things being called "essential services." Fire, ambulance, police, streets ... yes to all.
Parks and trails, not so much. There are plenty of volunteers who already groom the trails (we have over 200 miles of hiking/biking trails in Anchorage) ...
and there are lots of other things that the Muni provides which could be trimmed back, if not eliminated.
The taxpayers are already having to tighten their belts, but somehow expect that the Muni will carry on as before ... and then squeal like stuck pigs when services are eliminated. I guess the budget is made from that magic money that the feds are throwing around. You know, the kind that's expected to somehow appear, without any apparent source. We don't have it now, but it will be there later, right? Right?
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That's about it for now - but something more always turns up. Excelsior!
Psalm 22:27-28: “All the ends of the world shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee. For the kingdom is the Lord's, and he ruleth among the nations.”
2 comments:
"... but somehow expect that the Muni will carry on as before ... and then squeal like stuck pigs when services are eliminated. I guess the budget is made from that magic money that the feds are throwing around."
Isn't that what is called cognizant disconnect? Or perhaps merely a failure to link cause and effect. Or to accept responsibility.
Far too much of all three going around.
Whatever we choose to call it, you're right: it's too prevalent, and some folks are in for a very rude awakening when the money goes away.
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