All everything home

Or "On Levies" - it's Week 4

Hear y’all, hear y’all!

I’m starting today by stating what I think is obvious: existing in the world right now is a lot. “A lot” is an understatement. It’s a real crap sandwich out there: everything’s expensive, none of us is paid enough, the bulk of our tax dollars are funding war and genocide, friends are sleeping outside in torrential downpours and tornadoes because our climate is broken and housing is totally unaffordable, and [insert whatever else has got you down here]. It’s more than “a lot”—it’s un-fucking-bearable.¹

Yet, somehow, we bear it. For me, I cope with personal pan pizza, Brooklyn-99 and Bob’s Burgers, 3 to 5 emotional support drinks at all times, hugging my kitties, weekly therapy, and (many, many) naps. I also rage with friends, which of all the things, helps the most. When the world, or rather the people running it, gives us turd tacos, it is life-saving to know that you’re not alone. We might not know all of you yet, but if you’re feeling angry and hopeless and lost, we want you to know that you’re not alone.

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On Our Minds

Levies.

In truth, I don’t know how to feel about taxes, particularly state and federal taxes. In theory, everyone would pay their fair share. Our (gagillions of) dollars would be pooled for the public good: we’d have smooth, safe roads, free higher education, beautiful libraries, public housing, universal healthcare, reliable public transportation, plenty of green space, and a livable climate.²

In practice, my friend who earns $40k a year owes $700 in additional taxes for 2023 and I’m betting without confirming that that’s more than a lot of the richest people in America. Said another way, our tax systems are deeply inequitable and at the end of the day poor and working class taxpayers aren’t seeing much in return.

Conversely, it’s easy(ier) for me to make the case for local taxation—e.g., levies. For today’s newsletter, I’m arguing the pros (feel free to challenge me in the comments): local tax dollars fund local services that tend to have direct, sometimes through daily interaction, impacts on our lives. Think public schools, emergency medical services, fire fighters, parks, and bus systems.

I’m still learning who funds what and how in West Virginia, so this past week I dug into levies. A levy is a mechanism through which local governments (and the services they support)—called “taxing units” in West Virginia—assess and collect taxes. Passing or imposing a levy is one of the limited ways that localities can raise revenue in this state.³

So far as I can tell (because the whole process is quite obscure), taxing units—we’ll use the Morgantown Public Library for our example—prepare draft levy language and present it to the state Auditor’s office. Once they get the okay that the proposed levy complies with state law, it heads to County Commission and they vote it up or down (to be on the ballot—voters have the final say).

Fun fact, and I’m not putting it in a footnote because it actually pisses me off, the Monongalia County Commission does not post an archive of its meeting minutes in any discernible way.⁴ If you pop onto their page right now, you have to dig just to find the “meeting minutes DRAFT” and you’ll only be able to access minutes for the March 27th meeting—they’ve met five times since then.

I mention this to say that I can’t tell you what discussion was had regarding 2024’s proposed levies, nor can I tell you whether they were voted up or down. I also can’t tell you what the levies say because they’re nowhere to (publicly) be found, only that Commission ostensibly talked about them on January 31st because they were on the agenda.⁵

Most of what I know about 2024’s levies, which are (presumably) on the primary ballot on May 14th, comes from this helpful article by Ben Conley at the Dominion Post. It looks like the following are up for our vote:

• Construction of Renaissance Academy, a “proposed new education and training academy focused on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM), Career Technical Education (CTE) and college preparation”;

• Mountain Line, Morgantown’s public transit system;

• Parks, trails, and recreation (“annual allocation of the funds would be as follows: County parks ($658,420); BOPARC ($281,582); Mon River and Deckers Creek rail-trails ($100,000); West Virginia Botanic Garden ($40,000); Cheat Lake and Laurel Point Soccer Clubs ($40,000); Westover Park ($40,000)”);

• Fire protection, to include the Morgantown Fire Department this time around; and

• Morgantown Public Library (the levy funds 25% of the overall library system and almost 50% of what it costs to run the county branches at Clinton, Arnettsville, Clay-Battelle, and Cheat Area, so, yea, the levy is a big deal for our library).

I’ll be voting “yes” on these levies if they’re on my ballot, largely because I’m a big fan of local government (the idea, not of the folks currently running it—whoops!) and frequently nerd out on what we could do locally (until the state legislature preempts us) were we properly funded (and led).

Per Ben’s reporting, “[w]ere all five to pass, it would represent a total of 15.1 cents per $100 of assessed value on Class II (residential) property and 30.2 cents per $100 on Class III and IV (commercial) property.” For my house, that’s about $133. Renters might be thinking “I don’t own my house, who cares?” Your landlord does, and it’s worth noting that when taxes go up so can your rent.

Personally, I wish everyone (me too!) better understood public finance and taxes and were better equipped to track how our elected officials spend our hard-earned cash. One of my mentors says that government spending⁶ is a value statement—what are our electeds’ values? Do they align with ours? Votes for or against levies are one way to hold our leaders accountable; the other is to pay attention when it’s their name(s) on the ballot.⁷

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In Our Community

A couple of important things are happening this Tuesday (4/16):

• First, Dismantling Racism Together (a project of First Presbyterian, I think) will meet by Zoom at 7 p.m. to hear from three school board candidates on the issues of “diversity, equity & inclusion; discipline; and working with local school improvement councils.” You can join here (no registration required).

• Second and dear to my heart, we are once again going to the Morgantown City Council meeting at 7 p.m. (County Commission Chambers on High Street) to demand that our officials take humane and evidence-based action to address our crises of homelessness and lack of affordable housing. We’re asking folks to wear green and we’re coordinating speakers this time—if you’d like to participate/speak, shoot us an email at morgantownscout@proton.me!⁸ If you can’t make it, you can send council a message using this link!

On Wednesday (4/17), the Woodburn Association of Neighbors is holding its quarterly meeting at the Woodburn School—starts at 7 p.m.! Fun fact: most (maybe all?) neighborhood associations have bylaws that govern how they’re run, how officers are elected, what they do, and when they meet. You can find most of them on the City’s website, like Woodburn’s, here.

We *think* Wiles Hill-Highland Park’s association is also meeting at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Wiles Hill Community Center.

In “important to Lindsey and Lesley because they love tchotchkes and art” news, the WVU School of Art and Design’s spring pottery sale is Wednesday, too! It kicks off at 9 a.m. and I can tell you from experience that the goods go quickly!

Thursday (4/18) we’re headed to the Peace for Palestine event at 123 Pleasant. There’ll be live music, a silent auction, an art market, and good people rallying together to oppose genocide. A $10 donation is suggested.

Monday (4/22) is Earth Day, but several local orgs are getting the celebration started early:

• The Nature Conservancy and the Central Appalachian Spruce Restoration Initiative are hosting a mass tree-planting in Canaan Valley State Park on Friday (4/19) starting at 10 a.m. (lunch provided!)

• On Saturday (4/20 - teehee), the Mon Valley Green Space Coalition and the WV Land Trust will host the Touch the Earth Festival from 1 - 4 p.m. at Marilla Park

• Morgantown North Rotary is hosting a pollinator plant sale on Saturday from 10 - 2 at the lower level of Mylan Park near the Operation Welcome Home Greenhouse (you’ll probably see me there)

I’d be remiss not to mention that the WVU Davis College Store at the Evansdale Greenhouse (1201 Evansdale Dr.) is open for business for the season—great place to get ornamental plants and garden starts. Their hours are Thursdays and Fridays 9 - 6 and Saturdays from 9 - 1.

We’ll remind you again, but the last day to register to vote in the May primary is April 23rd. Always, always check your voter registration to make sure it’s up-to-date!

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All the Small Things

If you’ve walked past 214 High Street, you may have noticed that things are happening at Monkey Wrench Books! Dare I say (no, I probably shouldn’t because I have jinxed myself time and again) a summer opening is likely?

The 94% eclipse was *pretty* cool, but I have to say I’m glad my little family was able to experience totality from our front yard in Greenville, South Carolina in 2017. I love the way natural events like eclipses 1) bring us together and 2) inspire awe, reminding us how small and miraculous we are.

Probably thinking “move cloud, move!”

As such, I’m leaving you with a poem because it’s beautiful and I’m too tired to be interesting and witty this week:

Singularity (by Marie Howe)

after Stephen Hawking

Do you sometimes want to wake up to the singularity
we once were?

so compact nobody
needed a bed, or food or money—

nobody hiding in the school bathroom
or home alone

pulling open the drawer
where the pills are kept.

For every atom belonging to me as good
Belongs to you.   Remember?
There was no   Nature.    No
 them.   No tests
to determine if the elephant
grieves her calf    or if

the coral reef feels pain.    Trashed
oceans don’t speak English or Farsi or French;

would that we could wake up   to what we were
—when we were ocean    and before that
to when sky was earth, and animal was energy, and rock was
liquid and stars were space and space was not

at all—nothing

before we came to believe humans were so important
before this awful loneliness.

Can molecules recall it?
what once was?    before anything happened?

No I, no We, no one. No was
No verb      no noun
only a tiny tiny dot brimming with

is is is is is

All   everything   home

With unyielding awe and gratitude,

Lindsey & the Scout Team

1. Look, it’s a miracle we made it to my second turn before employing an F bomb. We’re all adults here.

2. Add innumerable other public goods to this list—anything that isn’t war or billionaire tax cuts’ll do.

3. Local governments typically have a number of different revenue streams: business (B&O) taxes, fees (e.g., fire fees in Morgantown), sales tax (if the state has allowed your town to operate under “home rule” - “fun” topic for another day), personal and real (land/house) property tax, and a mix of state and federal dollars. IMHO, West Virginia has made it really challenging for its counties and cities to make money to pay for vital services. Hence all the decay and disinvestment.

4. I know how to do it because I’ve had the clerk walk me through it, but for most people it’s impossible to navigate. Even if you figure it out, so far as I can tell all the minutes haven’t been scanned in/added yet.

5. I will digress here to say that almost every local government/agency in West Virginia is doing something unlawful when it comes to public records. There just aren’t enough of us to 1) dig in and 2) sue them when they won’t act right.

6. She actually says “budgets are a value statement” which is far catchier - adapted for use here!

7. More later.

8. We recognize that making public comments can be really daunting. At this point, we’re old hat and we’re happy to help you prepare so that you can feel confident taking the podium. The cool thing about public comment is that you don’t need to be perfect or perfectly prepared; the most compelling comments we’ve seen have been those that reflect lived experience and are given straight from the heart.