Jump to content

Larry T. Spider

Legacy Members
  • Posts

    2097
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    2

Everything posted by Larry T. Spider

  1. Consolidation causes declining enrollment. Declining enrollment turbofucks the recapture formula. Round and round we go. When considering closing east side schools you also have to map out the nearby charters. If you close a school that’s right next to one, your families will opt for the charter vs a school a lot farther away.
  2. I agree that AISD is fucked. Only way out is fixing recapture and that isn’t going to happen anytime soon. They are being set up for a state takeover and that will speed up the decline in enrollment, especially at the higher end schools that can take advantage of vouchers. The lower end will continue to get whittled away by charters. I feel the district has been dealt the most unfair hand of any district in the state. However, that does not absolve the district of terrible leadership over the last 10 years. Cruz had no idea how to put large scale systems in place. Elizalde was the nail in the coffin by running off most of the competent, long-term staff then bouncing to Dallas. They had to hire a home grown guy just to try to salvage what staff was left. They are good at hiring west Austin principals who work with their involved communities. No clue how to run the other 2/3rds of schools. Not really my main focus with work right now but my company does own, manage and operate charters in other states. Would be hilariously ironic to come back to AISD to run 20 of their schools as charters and give no fucks about what their clown show administration wants.
  3. So now there is talk that the US would have to pay back all the tariffs that have been collected with money we don’t have. That doesn’t sound great for inflation. However, my guess is that the Supreme Court will rule in favor of Trump because cloak room. Is there a way for the ruling to be that Trump can’t unilaterally decide tariffs moving forward but we don’t have to come up with 500 billion dollars to pay back?
  4. I’m all for metro/commuter rail as well as high speed that connects cities. My main objection is based on a lack of trust. Many countries get these things built quickly and they are marvels of engineering. In Austin we collect the money through taxes and have almost nothing to show for it. It’s been difficult to get an answer on where the money is going for the expanded metro rail in Austin. You know the one that was advertised as 386 new lines that’s down to 1 new one starting in 2045? How is it possible that other countries pull this off routinely and we can’t?
  5. Making good progress on the financial goals this year. Commission hit today with 12% already taken out for 401k so on my way to maxing that out for the year. Wife’s IRA is funded. Next up is my roth, which I will need to backdoor for the first time. Am I on the right track with this? Create a traditional IRA in fidelity, fund it with 7k, transfer it to my existing fidelity roth. Anything I need to do on TurboTax next year when filing?
  6. Update: 1. They do it over the phone, the person I talked to was completely wrong. They called and changed it to the sale price. Crisis averted. 2. Note to self: buy on the Kansas side of KC. 3. Time to buy another house? 🤔
  7. Yep. Mainly the shift in Hispanic men. Turbo fucks all the calculations if it’s permanent. Could easily change once Trump is out. A lot of the blue collar machismo guys like Trumps bravado but wouldn’t give two shits about a guy like Vance.
  8. I’ve been saying for years that the Dems will win this state back by winning statewide elections first. There is no other way. If they start to break this gerrymandered map, republicans will just create a new one. It’s whack-a-mole. About 7 years ago I did some in-depth demographic/election research and pegged 2028 as when dems would be capable of pulling this off. Increasing Hispanic population combined with burbs turning blue would do the trick. I don’t give Dems much of a shot before 2128 now. Caveat is that nobody knows what a post-Trump political landscape looks like.
  9. Guessing the market will take a fat dump tomorrow on this news.
  10. They aren’t even following their own rules.
  11. Ok, update on the property tax situation. I explained my situation via email and got a response that said “you mean over the phone”. That was the entire email. After multiple emails and calls to confirm they will be calling me I got somebody on the line today that said the only way they will do anything other than in person is if you have a disability. My hearing is at 10:30 tomorrow morning. Fun. Im trying to get in touch with a property tax protestors guy my realtor knows but I would consider it a long shot on this short of notice and I will probably get stuck with the increased taxes this year. I know it’s pointless, but is there a way to file a formal complaint against the Jackson County Board of Equalization? They have been non-responsive, rude when you actually talk to somebody, and delayed pertinent information to the point that I likely cant have a representative at the hearing. All of this nonsense because they valued a house I just bought for 185k at 302k.
  12. How well off are they from the business? I’ve seen people with a lot of properties that basically scratch out a middle class life. I know a guy in Arkansas with about 150 and he seems to be doing pretty damn well. I’m sure it’s like any other business where some are savvy and successful and others are not.
  13. Didn’t know this thread existed until now. Bought my first rental in Kansas City as the price to rent ratios are decent. Much better than Austin. It’s been about 10 months and I haven’t had any complaints. Management company is ok, tenant pays on time, very minor repairs, and the rent covers the mortgage plus a little. Then comes the county. I get a letter threatening me with 180 days of jail time if I don’t fill out a pile of paperwork (by hand, nothing online) and send the health department a money order for $42. Waste of half a day. Now I’m dealing with the tax appraisal. Bought it for 185k with an appraisal at 189k. They came in at 300k. LOL. Nothing in this neighborhood has EVER sold for close to that. I filed an appeal for an online hearing. They confirmed in person. Now I’m emailing a black hole because they won’t talk on the phone. I’ll never buy anything else in that county regardless of how good of a deal it is.
  14. My right wing friends texted that it was blackrock/palestine related so we can probably rule that out.
  15. Wannabe rurals. Work office jobs but still want to dress country and drive big trucks at 90 mph on a toll road straight into the city center from as far out as possible.
  16. Going to be a long countdown….but it will be relevant again at some point. Droughts, floods, and not much in between.
  17. Let the water wasting commence!
  18. I keep telling the bums that no more than 3 can piss at the same time or this is what will happen.
  19. Really trying to avoid wading into the blame game but a dam breaking changes the scenario some, at least in my mind.
  20. Are there any formal reports that the damn near mystic broke?
  21. I’m sure it won’t make a difference but I hope this changes how people react to officials putting weather related precautions in place, especially in central Texas. Schools superintendents get bitched out every time they cancel school and it doesn’t turn out to be a massive weather event.
  22. Number 2 hits close to home. In the last couple of years we’ve done exterior painting, remodeled two bathrooms, kitchen, windows, upgraded the sprinkler system, and a new roof but insurance paid most of that. Part of this is because we deferred a lot of projects when I wasn’t making as much and now we can afford them. We need to paint the interior of the house then probably be done. It will be great to throw all that extra money in the market.
  23. Build the damn statue.
  24. Still just chugging along dollar cost averaging 2-3k into index funds once a month. Commission season starts in about a month so that will be fun.
×
×
  • Create New...