It’s all about politics; it’s all about money … for some.

In October, 2013, we posted this at Columbia news, views & reviews:

In a discussion about Columbia’s very high school property taxes, the mayor restated his intention to have representatives with tea party affiliations come to his next Community Update meeting on October 23 at 7:00 pm at the Consolidated Fire Department at 265 South Tenth Street. While recent revision to property tax to support school districts legislation at the state has been stalled, the mayor is going to invite David Baldinger and/or Keith Wilkes to attend that meeting. Wilkes headed the  of the 9-12 Project of Central PA – read more about David Baldinger here.

Notes from the September 2013 borough Council Meeting –

HIGH PROPERTY TAXES – The mayor said he’d spoken with members of the school board after a recent meeting to tell them that high school taxes were impeding “economic development” in Columbia. He then went on to say that he’s been in contact with folks from the Pennsylvania Coalition of Taxpayer Associations. He went on to extol the virtues of the organization’s premises: the abolishment of property taxes and the replacement of a broken school system.

“The PTCC and our statewide nonpartisan grassroots umbrella group, the Pennsylvania Coalition of Taxpayer Associations (PCTA), are dedicated, through legislative reform, to eliminating school property taxes for all Pennsylvanians and to the equitable funding of all Pennsylvania schools from a broad-based, statewide funding source. Such a source would ultimately equalize disparities between wealthy and poorer school districts, ensuring a quality education for all Pennsylvania schoolchildren. The PTCC is a supporter of House Bill 76 and Senate Bill 76, The Property Tax Independence Act, a property tax elimination proposal that will abolish all school property taxes and provide equitable funding for all Pennsylvania schools.”

He told everyone the Website – www.ptcc.us – and encouraged the audience to look at it; he stated he’s going to try to talk with one of the leaders, David Baldinger.

What he did not say, though, is equally of interest.

At the Website, it states: the group “is an alliance of eighty-one nonpartisan grassroots Pennsylvania taxpayer advocacy groups that span the entire Commonwealth and represent tens of thousands of taxpayers. The PCTA is dedicated to the support of House Bill 76 and Senate Bill 76, the Property Tax Independence Act, legislation that will abolish school property taxes in Pennsylvania and will equitably replace a broken education finance system.“

Columbia news, views & reviews  notes that “googling” the Pennsylvania Coalition of Taxpayer Associations Website actually redirects to a Web page at the the Pennsylvania Taxpayers Cyber Coalition. Take a look at the PCTA member groups; overwhelmingly they are “tea party” organizations.

Who is David Baldinger? Again, “googling” the name we found many references like this one: “David Baldinger, spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Coalition of Taxpayer Associations (PCTA) and Coordinator of the Pennsylvania Taxpayers Cyber Coalition (PTCC) will be speaking about HB 1776, the Property Tax Independence Act, on Thursday, March 8, at the meeting of the Philadelphia Tea Party Patriots of Central Montco.

In the Youtube video below, “David Baldinger explains the key points on HB/SB 76 for the elimination of school property taxes and the benefits to Pennsylvanians.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qle06alZcFA

Our take:

• Looking for ways to fix the American education system – great idea.
• Coming up with a more equitable system to support the educational system – great idea.
• Investigating some ideas – regionalization and consolidation were thrown into the conversation by the mayor – to make school systems more effective and accountable – great idea. [NOTE: The mayor even said, gulp, county school system. We think that is an idea worthy of discussion. As well as county-wide public safety resources!]
• Alignment with an an organization that’s mostly populated by “tea partiers” – not such a great idea.

Find selected David Baldinger posts here:

“This is a bullshit political scam and nothing more, a fraud designed to keep Wolf’s campaign contributors fat and happy and to kill our effort.”

“And your ‘childish…tantrum’ bullshit is insulting. I have been fighting this battle for more than ten years and I know how Harrisburg works. When you’ve spent that much time in this fight and have that much experience with the self-serving politicians you can tell me all about how this is a wonderful opportunity. I’m sorry, but your naiveté is showing and your blind acquiescence damages the cause.“

F&M professor and political observer, Terry Madonna, says, “ … getting rid of the property tax is very popular — it polls as the most-hated tax. Obviously, if it should pass, the Realtors will gain immensely in selling homes,” in this Philadelphia City Paper article, “Property tax revolt could sharply reduce school spending.”

The author at Watch Dog Wire says, “Mr. Baldinger had whipped a frenzy among the ranks that left no room for dissention.  When I challenged my own affiliated group to debate internally at a meeting, and even offered to lead the discussion, I was ignored.”

It’s difficult for citizens to take anything at face value; we revert to what we stated in 2013:

It’s a bit disconcerting, however, to not find some of these organizations claiming non-profit status listed at the Pennsylvania Department of State Corporation Registration Website nor the IRS tax exempt organizations Website.

Our take:

• Looking for ways to fix the American education system – great idea.
• Coming up with a more equitable system to support the educational system – great idea.
• Investigating some ideas – regionalization and consolidation were thrown into the conversation by the mayor – to make school systems more effective and accountable – great idea. [NOTE: The mayor even said, gulp, county school system. We think that is an idea worthy of discussion. As well as county-wide public safety resources!]
• Alignment with an an organization that’s mostly populated by “tea partiers” – not such a great idea.