The Daily Item seems to have a never ending supply of interesting comments to highlight here. On the August 16th article 'Lynn's plan for a new middle school advances,' a discussion in the comment section ensued about the lack of attention directed at Pickering Middle School which, like Marshall, is also falling apart structurally. One commenter remarked rebuilding Marshall was not fair while his/her children, "who live in the ward that pays the majority of the city's taxes [Ward One] will have to sit in the windowless basement rooms of the moldy Pickering Middle School." This sparked debate about some who continue to note the amount of taxes that the residents of Ward One pay compared to the rest of the city with the particular belief that this entitles them to more services or benefits. Some noted that other areas of the city are more densely populated than Ward One and may in fact contribute more in property tax; others were not buying this as some of these areas largely consist of renters as opposed to homeowners. User 'reggiecleveland' remarked:
The landlords pass their tax expense to the tenants, who are on sec 8, which gets paid by the working class, which is all of Ward 1. So they get to pay for the schools twice.
Just an FYI 'reggiecleveland' - not all renters in the city of Lynn are on Section 8 or other forms of assistance. Furthermore, there are multi-family units in Ward One which may very well be occupied by some Section 8 recipients.
This commentary is not all that surprising given some of the negative sentiment some Lynners have expressed toward renters who, apparently in their opinion, do not contribute as much to their communities as homeowners. See:
Unfortunately, this is a common opinion in more than just Lynn. Even if it's a rented dwelling, someone, somewhere, is paying taxes on it.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely - more importantly, people need to move past the idea that paying more in taxes means you should get more when it comes to public services like education. Children at Marshall are no less entitled to a quality education in a building in good physical condition than Pickering students.
DeleteThe attitude toward renters in general is yet another reason that Lynn comes across as unwelcoming to people.