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RTDNTOTO šŸ» Random Thoughts Deserving No Thread Of Their Own 21 (2026)

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kjel said:
Our community school is closing :( I am thankful that my youngest got to attend a neighborhood school that she walked to for 4 years. NJ's school funding formula has cut state funding for many middle class districts, diverting funds to low income districts that don't have as robust of a property tax base. Combined with a Christie era 2% tax cap it's really straining many districts, even larger ones. We had a referendum for a 27% increase on the school tax portion of the property tax bill which would have increased about $500 annually for the typical home, but all the old people voted against it so it failed leaving few options on the table.

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I recall looking into NJ's funding formula a couple of years ago when working with an intern to understand VT's options. It's kind of wild as I recall.
 
Faust_Motel said:
I recall looking into NJ's funding formula a couple of years ago when working with an intern to understand VT's options. It's kind of wild as I recall.
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VT does this "equalized pupil" formula where there are certain types of pupils (ESL, lower income) that generate a higher state funding rate. It's still a Robin Hood "rich town/poor town" formula that doesn't do much to help out low income kids in high-value districts, but if I'm remebering right NJs looks at the municipality as a whole as "rich" or "poor" and bases the funding formula on that...

Nevertheless we have some brutal geographic and economic conditions in VT that are going to force A LOT more consolidation.

For me, being a middle-income property owner in a "wealthy" school district means most of the property tax money I pay goes to keep small inefficient schools open in dying rural communities.
 
My mind is blanking...what do they call that where banks are required to keep a certain percentage (say 13%) of assets in the form of actual specie?
I can't for the life of me remember.
 
I meet with some folks looking to open a business a couple of weeks ago. All three reeked of cigarette smoke. Fast forward to this morning when I received an email from them, I swear that I smelled cigarette smoke while I was reading it.
 
Going to a Ramadan dinner tonight - looking forward to it

In the late 80's, I worked at a firm where the office manager was Iraqi-American, from a W town in Massachusetts. Her husband and parents were Iraqi-born, and she had 2 little boys. She was overqualified for the job, but she loved working with our little campus planning firm. She used to have us over for Ramadan dinners, and omg the food was incredible, like undescrably good. During Ramadan, no one brought their lunch or breakfast to the office, or even snacks, to help her with her fast.

I miss her so much, and I wish I had kept in contact with her. During the Iraq War, she used to take a couple of mugs and a coffee pot, while donning a Ralph Lauren robe and slippers, out to the FIB folks sitting in the car watching her house and ask them if they wanted a coffee. She was a real pip. But still, that war was hard for her, and every time she got a call, we would all freeze in our chairs (open office, it was a design studio, when I was cool) and wait to hear if everyone was okay.
 
Youngest started baseball practices last night. It is the first time that he has actually played and we didn't get a chance in the week to work with him due to just registering him. When he got up there for batting practice, the coach pitched a soft one to him, and he ripped it. That went on for 4 more pitches, each one a little faster before he missed one.

I think he will do just fine this season.
 
I get an error message when I try to access Cyburbia on my phone (blocked?), but it works OK on my laptop and work computer.
 
Maister said:
My mind is blanking...what do they call that where banks are required to keep a certain percentage (say 13%) of assets in the form of actual specie?
I can't for the life of me remember.
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Reserve Requirement. The Fed adjusts the percentage from time to time, to add or subtract currency in circulation.
 
Don't forget to change your clocks Sunday morning, if applicable.

We here at the office think they should do the time change on Friday afternoons in the Spring. At 4 p.m., it becomes 5 p.m. Alternatively, they should go back twenty three hours, so that at 2 a.m. Sunday it becomes 3 a.m. Saturday. Net effect on the Sun is the same in either case. Plus, in the latter instance, holidays would drift so eventually the 4th of July would be in winter and Christmas would be in summer.
 
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