Off The Editor’s Desk – 1-9-2019
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How many lawyers?
Last week I was watching the “This Old House” feature on PBS and part of the program featured a volunteer working on the remodeling of an old house. The volunteer was an electrician who is also a member of Congress.
I don’t remember his name or where his district is. But when he was interviewed by one of the program’s hosts and asked how he got to be an electrician? He answered that he joined an apprentice program and worked his way up.
He urged others to seek apprenticeships in other fields of work and noted the shortage of workers.
We need trained workers to keep our utilities working, carpenters, plumbers, mechanics, and people in the service industry including printers. My thought is…maybe our local schools are geared to educate our children into a college education, but maybe we should place more emphasis on vocational studies.
In closing the congressman was asked how many electricians serve in the House of Representatives? His answer was, “Just me”. But he quickly added there are 211 lawyers. That my friends, represents about 50 percent of the membership of the House of Representatives.
Now, which one of those two professions would you think I would favor to make the laws that we have to live by?
Speaking of big numbers, our governor elect Tony Evers, has sent me 285 emails since the time he decided to make a run for the State’s top office. I did not open all of them, but each one was a request to make a donation to his campaign. I am glad that I did not send him any money, because from past experiences, once you donate, the requests keep coming, and it seems like on a daily basis.
Another big number is our property tax bill. I assume that everyone has received that bill from your local municipal clerk by now.
I always like to compare my tax bill that I get for our home in Glenwood City to our second home in Hayward. I refer to the list that states the fair market value of the property. Our Hayward property value is some $6,300 more than the Glenwood City property. But in Glenwood City we pay $551.96 more in property taxes.
Comparing the tax bill, the school district has the biggest amount on the Glenwood City tax bill and at Hayward the school is second behind the City of Hayward. Why is that I wondered?
It is because up north there is a lot of property. Like lake homes and summer retreats, where children attend school in other districts rather than at Hayward School. So I went and looked up the valuations of school districts.
The equalized valuation of property in the Glenwood City School District is $262 million. At Boyceville the valuation is $315 million. Baldwin-Woodville has $713 million and Menomonie School District has $1.9 billion, Colfax has $355 million and Elk Mound has $336 million. But the big district is Hayward with $2.9 billion in equalized valuation.
The school enrollment for the above schools are: Glenwood City, 696; Baldwin-Woodville, 1728; Boyceville 735; Colfax, 834; Elk Mound 1206, Menomonie, 3372 and Hayward, 2046. These figures are the latest from the DPI.
Thanks for reading! ~Carlton