Virginia Libertarian

TimesDispatch.com | Orange council defers vote
Orange council defers vote
It opts to reconsider plans for subdivision in four to six weeks

Richmond Times-Dispatch

Aug 15, 2006

ORANGE — At the developer’s request, the Town Council deferred voting last night on a proposal to build a subdivision that would boost Orange’s population by 40 percent.

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Owens has offered about $12,000 in proffers for each housing unit, or roughly half of the town’s proffer guidelines. Proffers are voluntary payments that developers make to localities to help offset the effect on schools, roads, utilities and public-safety services.

Outside the meeting, Owens referred questions to Frank Cox, the master planner for the project off U.S. 15. Asked if the proffer amounts would increase, Cox would say only that the proffers would be repackaged. He said the size of the development would not change. — Kiran Krishnamurthy

There are those ugly words again, master plan (although this time they are in reference to a master planner). Why does the local government feel the need to regulate this? I’ll tell you why, because it has assumed the responsibility of building schools, roads, utilities, and public-safety services. Were these four items privatized, the town government would no longer care, and that would be a good thing. If there were no market for these homes, the builder wouldn’t be trying to build them. Since there is a market, and since the government controls said items, the developer has to pay proffers (read bribes) to the local officials in order to be allowed to build.

TimesDispatch.com | Powhatan board raises cash proffer
The cost of a new house in Powhatan County just went up.

Without discussion, the Board of Supervisors voted last night to raise the county’s maximum cash proffer to $12,344 per housing lot, a 70.6 percent increase from the previous amount of $7,236.

Cash proffers are payments the county may accept when land is rezoned for new homes to offset the costs of schools, parks and other public facilities.

Proponents say cash proffers make growth pay for itself and relieve pressure on real estate taxes. Critics argue proffers are narrowly applied taxes that drive up costs of new homes.

Powhatan officials blame much of this year’s proffer increase on rising school-construction costs. The county’s cash proffer is based on its estimated cost of schools, libraries, parks, fire stations and public-works facilities. It does not cover road improvements.

More of the same from Powhatan, which has been growing a lot lately.  The same problem, screaming out for the same solution, privatize the schools, roads, utilities, and public-safety services.

Welcome to News Virginian: Serving the Waynesboro, VA region | Bolling boosts rural economics
Bolling hopes to put together a legislative agenda on rural needs before the 2007 General Assembly.

One thing he has learned: Schools and employers in rural areas need to work more closely together.

He says there is a disconnect between the skills rural workers have and what the employers in those areas need.

“We need a better integration of schools with the workforce,” he said.

Now, this wouldn’t be a symptom of the government running the school system would it?  If these were privately run schools, you can bet your ass they would be teaching the exact skills that the employers were looking for, otherwise why would people go to them?  I’m surprised that no-one has taken up the initiative to open up a private school doing exactly that, but then again, with the people paying so much in taxes to get their government indoctrination centers, they probably wouldn’t have any money left to pay for the private school tuition.  Now, since it is a government run monopoly, you get schools teaching to the SOL’s, which are probably irrelevant for the area.