Increasing homestead exemptions for local property taxes?

There is a Texas House Joint Resolution bill pending in the Texas House Ways and Means Committee and poses a change to how local taxing authorities who impose property taxes use exemptions and value property. Texas HJR 21 (Callegari, Fletcher, Zerwas, Harper-Brown, and Pickett) and SJR 13 (Patrick) propose that a constitutional amendement be added to the ballot that Texans see next time they enter the voting booth.

There are a few different proposals, but in sum, the spirit of the whole is to consitutionally limit the assessed property value as well as increase the amount exemptions available for individuals.

My worry, however, is that this will create a funding gap that will pose substantial problems for these taxing authorities. Many local taxing authorities are already limited in either the sheer amount they can tax or in the amount they can increase taxes each year (ex. counties can only tax @ 30 cents on the $100 of property value). If enacted, this would change the funding structure of these organizations and create a gap--a gap that in an economic downturn could prove very harmful. Where will these local taxing authorities make up the revenue shortfalls? Included in one proposal is a clause that would force the state governement to step in with the funds that are missed out on under this new propsal. Will this work? Is this going to increase the need for local government aid (LGA) funds that are oftentimes decried as unnecessary spending and subject to being cut in future budgets?

Just a thought. I don't know any answers to these questions but thought I'd pose them.

Anyway, I'm off to bed tonight, I'm tired after my bike ride this afternoon. Just thought I'd share this with whoever is paying attention now that this technology class is over.

We have discussed and debated the importance and influence of blogs on business.

After doing a little bit of research, it looks like people really do care what is posted on a blog. Hmmm...I wonder if I start blogging about Target stores in the Twin Cities, will someone in downtown Minneapolis pick up on it?

Anyways, through my research I found out that Dell's public relations nightmare regarding its sub par customer service was the result of a blogger. The blogger Jeff Jarvis started blogging about Dell.

Jeff Jarvis wrote the simple entry of:

Dell lies. Dell sucks
I just got a new Dell laptop and paid a fortune for
the four-year, in-home service.
The machine is a lemon and the service is a lie.
I’m having all kinds of trouble with the hardware:
overheats, network doesn’t work, maxes out on
CPU usage. It’s a lemon.
But what really irks me is that they say if they sent
someone to my home -- which I paid for -- he
wouldn’t have the parts, so I might as well just
send the machine in and lose it for 7-10 days -
- plus the time going through this crap. So I have
this new machine and paid for them to FUCKING
FIX IT IN MY HOUSE and they don’t and I lose it
for two weeks.
DELL SUCKS. DELL LIES. Put that in your Google
and smoke it, Dell.


This case has inspired a new study into the influence of blogs, but one thing that researchers have struggled with is how to measure a blog's influence. Since my own personal background is in performance evaluation, research methodology, and survey design, I found it particularly interesting how researchers are starting to measure the influence of bloggers--by using issue influence is measured rather simply by studying two things:
A.) per topic
B.) using keywords

So, I guess that corporations are going to have to monitor what all of us faceless, semi-anonymous creeps out here in cyberspace blogging about our dissatisfying experiences with various organizations.

More to come soon. I have to get myself to class...BUT, will be back with more on this ASAP.


PS. If there are any Target-ers watching. The Target store in Saint Louis Park, Minnesota needs a little love.

Knowledge Management and Knowledge Exchange

Ever since the class period we discussed the differences between knowledge exchange and knowledge management, I can't help but think about better ways to facilitate information exchange within organizations, industries, and societies.

My question that I've been pondering since that discussion is:

How do we leverage technology to act as a substitute to that cup of coffee or a beer at the place on the corner? There's something special about the human connection that facilitates not an information sharing, but an understanding. There's something about looking someone in the eyes and hearing what he or she has to say.

I have to run, but there will be more about this. Does anyone have ideas? Can this take place in Second Life?