Question for those who live in California

[scootr]

65 and sunny here in the Ozarks, but might be teens Friday night..

Haven't seen temps in the teens or even the 20s in years
38-39º was the lowest AM temp this winter

 

[Oaktree]

Local's joke that describes the high cost of everything here.

OK. You never know with California.
Sort of like the so-called "view tax" here in N.H. No such thing, but tax assessors take into account if you have a view when making their assessment. Everybody crabs about it, but when it comes time to sell property with a mountain/lake view brings a premium price.

Saw the snow storm hitting New England to day ~ it's going to be 68º and sunny here today. I'll take it.

Actually, relatively little of New England got that storm. Mostly Conn. & R.I., and a bit of southern Mass. Not much north of the Mass. Pike.
We could have used some of that snow up here in the north country. Economy is very dependent on winter sports (skiing & snowmobiling), and snow has been sparse this year. Been the pattern last few years, all the big storms go south of us.

 

[Sigarms]

Sad thing about taxes in California is they have them for everything, but the money is rarely used for what's being taxed. Money taxed to maintain the roads gets used for a social program and the roads get worse. They create more taxes to fix the roads, and then that money is used for social programs, and the roads get worse. There is never enough money to fix anything, but always a need for more money that disappears into social programs.

I'm certain Pennyslvanian's pay taxes for their roads, but have no clue where the money goes to unless they changed things up there on their roads.

NC got the state lottery for schools. Reality is only a portion of revenue brought in by the state lottery actually goes to the schools.

It's great Texas takes care of their roads, but this is not always the case

 

[jyoutz]

I'm certain Pennyslvanian's pay taxes for their roads, but have no clue where the money goes to unless they changed things up there on their roads.

NC got the state lottery for schools. Reality is only a portion of revenue brought in by the state lottery actually goes to the schools.

It's great Texas takes care of their roads, but this is not always the case

I travel through Texas a few times a year. Yes they rebuild the interstates and main highways, but like most states there are plenty of rural roads in bad condition.

 

[Sigarms]

I travel through Texas a few times a year. Yes they rebuild the interstates and main highways, but like most states there are plenty of rural roads in bad condition.

From my experience living there, Pennsylvania never discriminated on ALL the roads they kept pretty shitty

2 men working 8 men watching seemed to be Penn Dots business philosophy when they were working…

 

[scootr]

When they install a pothole patch here they need a dumptruck of asphalt (who knows how hot or cold that is at the end of the day) and truck with 2 guys who put out traffic control and a supervisor car who watches... Layers of government!?

 

[jyoutz]

When they install a pothole patch here they need a dumptruck of asphalt (who knows how hot or cold that is at the end of the day) and truck with 2 guys who put out traffic control and a supervisor car who watches... Layers of government!?

In NM, patching potholes, plowing snow, and inspecting contractors is about all the state highway department does. Most other work is contracted out. But I notice that the contractors seem to operate the same way that you describe.

 

[Muhammad]

@EddieWalker The town I'm in has immaculate roads and they're always paving. But in La Jolla village, one of the most expensive zipcodes in the U.S., the roads are a mess. Maybe the town I'm in has a lot more money or maybe it's just a better run city?

When I zoom out to the greater Southern California region, there's a ton of money getting spent on roads. Many multi-year projects. They even post signs on the freeway that say "your tax dollars at work" to ease the pain of sitting in traffic jams.

 

[deserteagle71]

From my experience living there, Pennsylvania never discriminated on ALL the roads they kept pretty shitty

2 men working 8 men watching seemed to be Penn Dots business philosophy when they were working…

I grew up in Pennsylvania and at the time never experienced how good roads could be in other states. It was a revelation as to how bad roads could get when I drove back from Nevada to visit my parents in northeastern Pennsylvania...I swear, 50% of Interstate 80 across Pennsylvania was rumble strips and construction zone signs - but not a sign of anyone actually doing any work. Back roads all potholes.

Most Nevada dirt roads are smoother than most Pennsylvania paved roads!

 

[plowhog]

Sad thing about taxes in California is they have them for everything, but the money is rarely used for what's being taxed. Money taxed to maintain the roads gets used for a social program and the roads get worse.

There was a $220M "educational" bond measure in CA a while ago to "buy books for Johnny and ensure he isn't in a classroom with a leaky roof."

The anti-tax crusaders (Howard Jarvis) offered to SUPPORT the bond if it was written into the bond that they money could not be hijacked for other causes. The bond proponents refused.

A different bond was floated in Sacramento to "support police and fire agencies." This was about the 4th election in a row where similar bonds were claimed to go to first responders-- yet all of the money went somewhere else. Police and fire got none.

The police and fire agencies threatened to sue unless the advertising was pulled saying it was to support them. The advertising was pulled and the bond measure failed.

It is pretty much presumed in CA that no matter how the bond or taxes are described, something quite different will happen.