I and I'm sure everyone else would feel a lot better if the examples and analogies used to describe the scope of the problem weren't always limited to police and fire (and similar pointy end) departments.

Try this analogy: $127,000,000 / $100,000 = 1270 (or fewer) executive level (and higher) positions.

More income tax from actually working citizens in decently paying jobs is the only solution; NOTHING ELSE matters.

Without those 100,000 employed and productive citizens **clamoring** to come to the City and to stay beyond their salad days the only other solution is to eliminate their cultural and social counter balance: the 100,000 worst service consuming unemployed.

RAZE the structures associated with the 6000 worst residential addresses. Just eliminate them in total from the conversation and by that act immediately increase the value of the next worse 6000 properties and make them almost good business to improve and appeal to those employed people the City needs to attract.

A few years later the ground those 6000 razed properties are on will have real appeal in it's own right.

Let me predict the future. This is the way it will go down...they will say lets cut the fire dept and the people will say no way, they will say lets cut the police force and the people will say no way, they will say lets cut trash pickup and the people will say no way - looks like we will have to implement the last resort - raise property taxes. Somehow the idea of cutting homeless services, cutting low income housing subsidies (goodness knows we need to have at least 10 times the number of units any county has), or even doing something as simple as letting bars stay open later to collect more income - they will never even consider these. Business as usual in Bmore, put down the working man in order to continue the cycle of poverty.

"Somehow the idea of cutting homeless services, cutting low income housing subsidies (goodness knows we need to have at least 10 times the number of units any county has), or even doing something as simple as letting bars stay open later to collect more income - they will never even consider these. Business as usual in Bmore, put down the working man in order to continue the cycle of poverty."

Well put.

Survival Guide: Baltimore City
Apply for Section 8, get a minor injury doing something stupid and call it disability. Do everything other than work. Make sure that you blame the police when you are arrested and blame the teachers when your children flunk out. Be sure to blame the fire department when your house burns down after you caused a fire. Don't just not contribute, but be a drain on the system. Make sure that you blast everyone who sees this with loaded words and make sure that politicians fear you.

And why would I want to live in a city that fosters welfare, crime, and wants to tax me disproportionately?

Does anyone want to start talking about pension reform yet?

The City needs to consider a retention strategy to hang onto long time Baltimore residents who wish to move. Many would prefer to remain in the city but know they'll be clobbered with much higher property taxes once they are no longer protected by the Homestead Tax Credit. Why can't they assume the credit that was extended to the seller of their new home in the city?

My property taxes have skyrocketed enough already. There isn't much more to take from people in terms of property taxes. Raising them will only flatline buying in the city and reduce available housing for the middle class and "those who need affordable housing the most"

Jamie, I think you can help the citizens of this city if you can point to a document where the budget appropriations are spelled out clearly. This is the age of internet and this document should be somewhere. I've looked and it's not easy to find. Does this document exist? Can we have a link on the Sun so every citizen can have a look at it?

Maybe this is too much to hope for in this age of accounting gimmicks.

Taxes are already high. Look at this list.
http://money.cnn.com/pf/features/lists/taxesbycity2005/index.html

Baltimore has so many services that you would think the taxes are justified.

But most of these services and places are worthless, unless you want to get raped, mugged, or shot. So they sit idle, collect trash, blood stains, and drug needles...or your eye falls out of its socket after you get beat by 14 year olds on a bus.

But the City pretends that everything is fine, and all the bad things are "perception", hence the "BELIEVE" campaign.

And it goes on building and funding projects that would be last on the list of a dying City, and goes on funding swank town homes in Little Italy for Section 8. How about a greener Baltimore? Why? We already have the most park area in any City in the country and most of it unused due to crime. None of it warrants the expenditure or even makes sense.

Bottom line, City Hall is corrupt to the bone, inept, and racist. It should be investigated by the Feds. That should be Rawling-Blake's priority number one task. She can't get anything done otherwise (if she wanted to that is, which she does not).

I don't care if they find oil Baltimore and it rains diamonds from the sky, it'll remain a cesspool. For ever more. Alas.

oz,

Why do you even care about this isssue? Given your description of the city as a "cesspool", I'm guessing that you don't live here. I'm also guessing that you haven't been to Patterson Park- otherwise, you would realize that it is not, to use your description, "unused".

While you lecture us from the outside looking in, we'll continue to work towards improving our city. We don't need your advice. Good day, sir.

DMA, try this doc for starters:
http://www.baltimorecity.gov/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=Ae7sUlC6Yck%3d&tabid=215&mid=2002

and this page for more:
http://www.baltimorecity.gov/Government/AgenciesDepartments/Finance/DocumentsReports.aspx

MCG, well said.

As I have said before, what is taking so long to get the slots in the City of Baltimore? This was approved over a year ago!!!!! There are other ways to increase revenue without raising taxes. They should be putting slots at Pimlico Race Course and in the Inner Harbor. Get it done already!!!!! Every day that this stalls will cost them MILLIONS!!!!!!!