Is $200 in this day and age enough to be returning to hard working Pennsylvania homeowners outside of Philadelphia ?

My school district property taxes were $500+ before the casino revenue rebate. $200 is a little less than a 40% reduction.

Phillydem...
Only $500+ in school taxes?
Give us directions to your school district...we'll gladly sell our house (at a loss)...pack up and move into your community.
Matt Thomas

Well, Matt, Beaver County would happily take anyone who wishes to move here! :)

I live in Blackhawk, but property assessments for the many old homes here are generally very low. Even a relatively high millage isn't all the much in total school property taxes. There are lots of redneck yinzers living in this districts, so caveat emptor.

I have been to Beaver several times in the past two years and found the local economies, especially around Aliquippa...virtual basket cases since the loss of J&L and other employers.
Yes, it would be a tax advantage to move here but it would hurt too much to be surrounded by so many others who are really having a rough time of it.
There may be a few rednecks here but most people I have met in Beaver County are first rate.
Matt Thomas

Matt, sometimes I find myself kind of chuckling about all the angst and despair of New Yorkers and Washingtonians and others who were living high off the hog of the financial industry. I catch myself thinking: "welcome to the world of the cities that were casualties of the Reagan revolution".

Of course not everyone here is a redneck and most people are decent and hardworking. The problem with Beaver county and a lot of areas here in western Pa is everyone here looks like everyone else. That leads to a lot of bigoted views based on ignorance. I've met a few people, who, like me, have lived in other big cities or more progressive areas
and moved back to care for elderly parents or to retire, and we all have the same reaction that the area is just stuck in a past that doesn't exist anymore.

If Harrisburg officials want the city of philadelphia to build two slots parlors so they can get the revenue coming to the state from these parlors to increase property tax relief in PA they need to start thinking clearly such as in the following manner.

The Sugarhouse slots parlor is on track; but, the Foxwoods slots parlor has a cliff to climb to get approved. The proponents of Foxwoods want to locate it on market street in downtown Center City Philadelphia. This is a galactically stupid idea. Downtown Center City has a huge number of ordinary working people working there as well a a huge number of retail businesses located there. Putting Foxwoods in Center city is going to result in a high number of working people losing needed portions of their paycheck gambling and causing a dramatic increase in theft crimes as a result of people seeking money to gamble. The social ills from slots gambling in center city Philadelphia will cause devastating harm to the beauty and appeal of this and the surrounding areas.

The General Assembly needs to change the slots law doing away with the prohibition about locating slots parlors too close together which is protecting the slots parlors in chester and Bucks county - when they change the law guarantee the owners of those slots parlors the profit they would get if the law was not changed. This change would allow the city of Philadelphia to put Foxwoods where it belongs along the Delaware River area north of Sugarhouse or south of Wal Mart.

The General Assembly needs to give Philly options or it won't see a Foxwoods built for years and years if ever.

pd -

When I think about areas such as Beaver County, I suppose my thoughts, from an economic standpoint, parallel yours to a degree. Yes, it is an area "stuck in the past", as is much of western Pennsylvania. A healthy percentage of it's residents are middle-aged or older and patiently waiting for the "steel mills" to magically return. Most residents of Beaver County are white (although, like most counties around here, there are a few areas with significant black populations). Regardless, racial tension exists, in different degrees depending upon the area.

It's not your assessment of the conditions in Beaver and similar areas that I take issue with. Everyone recognizes that western Pennsylvania, on the whole, is declining both economically and demographically. In short, we're hemorrhaging both money and people. Why is this happening? You blame "Reagan". That's an easy and politically convenient answer. My opinion? Most of this state, as you said, is "stuck in the past" and simply refuses to make the appropriate changes necessary to become economically competitive.

Take the steel industry. I would argue that Japan had much more to do with the demise of the American steel industry than Ronald Reagan ever did. Why is this? The Japanese had (and have) the competitive advantage of lower production and labor costs vs. their American counterparts. Ask yourself this question (and answer it honestly): if you were running a business and were required to purchase a product (in this case, steel), do you purchase goods at a lower or higher price? I know "Buy American" is a popular catch phrase, but it doesn't always translate into action.

Now consider this: manufacturing isn't necessarily disappearing from the U.S. - it's migrating. Where? South. Why? For the very same reason the Japanese now own the steel market - lower production and labor costs. Companies that were headquartered in places like Pennsylvania and Ohio relocated to states such as Texas and Alabama, for example, citing "friendlier operating environments". Translation: lower taxes and "right to work" policies.

What does this mean? I believe SOME of our leaders here in Pennsylvania recognize these competitive disadvantages, but most simply bury their heads further up their -, I mean, deeper in the sand - and would rather maintain the job-killing status quo. The preferred economic exilir of the wise men and women of Harrisburg? Gambling, aka "Let's take what little disposable income the folks that are still here have and funnel it into our coffers and the wallets of our favorite gaming operators. Then, we'll kick back a few hundred bucks to homeowners once a year. They'll think they're getting a windfall!" The sad reality is that, for many casino-goers, only losing $200 is called a "good night".

To sum up, Beaver County is symptomatic of a governing philosophy that is indeed "stuck in the past". Most college graduates, once they grab their diplomas, sprint towards the airport gates and are never seen again. Many thirty-something couples relocate south and west and don't look back. It's honestly a damn shame. Pennsylvania has the natural beauty, the history, the culture, and the people. In my opinion, we just don't have the common-sense government to properly support and cultivate any of those things. Our state government denies twenty-first century realities with twentieth-century rhetoric. If you want to retain or attract business, give business a reason to stay or come here. If you want to retain or attract "the best and the brightest" work force, give our young people a reason to stay or come here. It's honestly that simple.

One more thing -

Until we adequately address these self-inflicted disadvantages, our leaders to continue to compensate for the shrinking tax base with schemes such as gambling, which do nothing but make our economic problems worse. Any economically-challenged area that has made even a modest comeback has done so by "reinventing itself". This requires the attraction of the entities required to conduct the reinvention (i.e., businesses and individuals) via low taxes, tax incentives to offset start-up costs, reasonable labor costs, etc.. Most people aren't going to magically appear in places like Pittsburgh and Harrisburg just because some politician claims "Pennsylvania is a great place to live!" Our state is definitely capable of reinventing itself into a viable economic competitor - we just need a government that actually takes an interest in such a worthy venture.

To the gentleman...
Re: Your asinine comments on Beaver County's retired Steelworkers visa Japan's steel imports...please review these documented numbers:
2008 Imports of finished steel to U.S. in net tons (latest figures Available)
Japan: 1,591
China: 4,805
South Korea: 2,294
Others: 12,071
Total w/out Japan: 19,170 net tons
Source: Iron and Steel Institute
Since China is by far our leading steel importer, then one must assume that your solution to creating a healthy U.S. steel industry is that American workers should work for Chinese wages.
As usual your facts are scewed and your idealogy is no less than dispeakable.
Your comment to pd that (Beaver County) "residents are middle-aged or older and patiently waiting for the steel mills to magically return." is simply not true.
These proud and skilled retired workers are well-aware that Beaver's steelmills are gone forever...gone because of corporate gangsters who care more about making a fast buck by selling out American workers and along with them, their own country.
Is that what you really stand for?
Matt Thomas

Matt -

As usual, you aren't very well served by your knee-jerk ideological hysteria.

Before we discuss facts, let's discharge this "Beaver County" pissing contest. You know very well that I wasn't referring to the character of the residents of Beaver. Please at least maintain the appearance of intellectual honesty, Matt. My comment referred to the fact that many residents of Beaver tend to be older demographically (hit up Census.gov if you really need to fact-check that one) and some of those older folks are, in my opinion, indeed "stuck in the past" as it pertains to the economic conditions in their area and what they believe should be done about it (and yes, some actually do believe the "mills can come back". I've heard them say it!) Your apparent moral indignation at my comments would be more effective if your feigned outrage was better veiled.

As to my "screwed facts", your response would carry a bit more weight if you took the time to realize that, in my response to pd, I was referring to the U.S.-Japanese steel battle of the 1980's (when the Japanese seized control of the market from us), as opposed to the composition of present-day imports. China has indeed eclipsed Japan as the world's leading exporter of steel (and of almost everything else), driven by their exceptional economic growth and Japan's well-documented economic struggles. In many ways, China has begun beating the Japanese at their own game, i.e., efficiency and cost containment. Only time will tell if this continues.

Your juvenile shot about "Chinese wages" (by the way, is it honestly necessary to transform this blog into a kindergarten playground every time somebody disagrees with you, Matt?) was a bit lame and nonsensical. My entire point in referencing the steel industry was to demonstrate that, once foreign competition came along and made a pretty good product at a lower cost, their counterparts here at home (specifically the steel industry in Pennsylvania) were caught flat-footed and couldn't (or wouldn't) alter their own business models in response. Please explain to me how this analysis is factually deficient (minus the "Chinese wages" and "corporate gangsters"-style rhetoric)?

One more thing, Matt: what exactly, in your opinion, is my driving "ideology" on this issue? The fact that folks here in western Pennsylvania are ill-served by their leaders when it comes to economic transformation? The fact that many of the same people who never lifted a finger as the steel industry disappeared from these parts (yes, some are in Harrisburg STILL) seemingly can't devise economic development packages beyond community "grants" (think BIG) and casino construction? The fact that the governing "ideology" currently found in Harrisburg (statist and union-grounded as it is) is the very philosophy that helped push the steel mills out the door in the first place over a quarter-century ago?

Nobody is talking about paying American workers "Chinese wages" Matt and you know it. Much like the auto industry "restructuring" that will hopefully occur this year, when the pendulum shifts to the point that an industry is no longer viable (i.e., American steel), changes have to occur or the entire ship goes down. This means management AND workers must address costs and improve efficiency. You apparently view this process as "selling out American workers". I see it as the only way everybody makes it to another paycheck.

Yeah, practicality and common sense. This is "what I really stand for"...

To the gentleman...
Now and then I am forced to give thought as to how your right-wing friends so capriciously dismiss what most every fair-minded citizen considers reasonable and decent compensation for work performed by our Commonwealth's hard working men and women.
Have you forgotten that both you and I, as well as these same above working people are all Americans...we do not live or work in China, Japan or Korea.
Further, as Pennsylvanians, we do not earn our living in Alabama, Mississippi or other "right to work" (for less) states...most of whom are virtual basket cases, each year nourished by way of the federal teat (your tax dollars) for at least twice the amount of money they ever contribute to the national treasury.
You really need to discipline yourself and perform some legitimate and serious research, rather than resorting to your present "lazy man's" resort to undocumented tripe.
Matt Thomas

Matt -

"You really need to discipline yourself and perform some legitimate and serious research, rather than resorting to your present "lazy man's" resort to undocumented tripe."

You probably shouldn't peer into the mirror when typing your responses. Freudian slips can sometimes occur via keyboard, you know...