Former Queen Anne’s County Commissioner Ben Cassell really doesn’t get it. Last week, he forwarded a letter to the editor pushing a ‘yes’ vote on Question A, arguing the need to get County schools to 120% capacities in order to get attention, and therefore funding, by the State. And he had the brass to make such a suggestion during these challenging economic times.
Cassell doesn’t have kids in the school system, and he doesn’t have a dog in the race, so why would he push for something so onerous? Well, just ask his friends at Business Queen Anne’s, because they too are advocating a “for” vote on Question A.
And why should anyone be surprised? You see, the pro-development folks at BQA want to weaken the Adequate Public Facilities (APFO) standard to something significantly less than what it is so their friends in the developer club won’t have to pay the necessary costs related to many of their projects around the County – and many of those projects ultimately impact the school system. The developer club want you to pay those dollars, and their view is, why should they have to front load costs for schools and road improvements when they can pass
them onto you?
It’s a great racket if you can get away with it — they sprawl the countryside with new subdivisions, make taxpayers pay for school and roadway improvements, and the developer walks away fat, happy and rich, while the rest of us get a tax increase to cover the costs of what they created.
Decreasing roadway standards and increasing school capacities to 120%, as the three Commissioners did, and as Cassell promotes, is a mistake and it takes Queen Anne’s County in the wrong direction. For our tax dollars, all Queen Anne’s County residents deserve adequate county facilities, and this includes quality schools and roads.
Citizens should not have to subsidize the costs of impacts as a result of new subdivision development brought forth by some developer – the developer should pay those costs, not you.
Say NO to higher taxes, overcrowded schools and more traffic, Vote AGAINST local Question A.
Jay Falstad
Millington
Jay Falstad is the Executive Director of Queen Anne’s Conservation Association, and is a parent of
two kids in the Queen Anne’s County school system.
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