Oak Ridge Today

County Commission to consider replacement for Biloski in District 8

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Robin Biloski

Robin Biloski

The Anderson County Commission will consider appointing a new commissioner in District 8 on Monday. The new commissioner will replace Robin Biloski, who resigned on August 3 because she and her husband Bill are moving to Madeira Beach, Florida.

Anderson County Commission Chair Robert McKamey will allow voters registered in Anderson County to submit names to the County Commission for consideration before commissioners vote or consider any motion or resolution on filling the position. The names may be submitted in writing to the chair prior to the meeting, or they may be submitted in person at the meeting.

In order for a name to be considered, a member of the County Commission must subsequently nominate the person. [Read more…]

County to consider budget, tax rate again on Aug. 13

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Anderson County Teachers at County Commission

Roughly three-quarters of those attending the budget deliberations at Anderson County Commission wore red—”Red for Public Ed”—on Monday, July 20, 2015. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Anderson County commissioners have called another special meeting—this one on Thursday, August 13—to consider the county budget and tax rate. At stake are pay raises for county employees and educators and more than $1 million in new money for schools in Anderson County, Clinton, and Oak Ridge.

County commissioners approved a budget supported by a 10-cent property tax rate increase during a regular meeting on Monday, July 20. Eight cents of that increase was meant to provide most of the money needed for 2 percent pay raises for teachers and staff in Anderson County Schools. Anderson County Schools expected to receive another $700,000 or so from the tax rate increase, while Oak Ridge Schools anticipated an extra $423,000 and Clinton City Schools were projected to get another $134,000.

The other two cents approved during the July 20 meeting was for 2 percent pay raises for Anderson County employees, with the exception of county commissioners and other elected officials.

But in a follow-up special meeting on Thursday, July 30, the Anderson County Commission rejected the tax increase when it came time to officially adopt the new tax rate for the fiscal year that began July 1. For now, county and school officials are continuing to operate under last year’s spending levels. [Read more…]

Pay raises, new money for schools in jeopardy

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Anderson County Teachers at County Commission

Roughly three-quarters of those attending the budget deliberations at Anderson County Commission on Monday, July 20, 2015, wore red—”Red for Public Ed.” Teachers thought they could be getting a 2 percent pay raise, but after a special Thursday night meeting to adopt the new tax rate, it’s not clear if that will still happen. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was last updated with a poll at 10 a.m. July 31.

CLINTON—Pay raises for county employees and educators and new money for three school systems, including Oak Ridge’s, are in jeopardy after the Anderson County Commission rejected a property tax rate increase on Thursday.

A 10-cent rate hike had been anticipated in a budget approved by the Anderson County Commission in a 9-5-1 vote on Monday, July 20.

But the Commission failed to adopt the new higher tax rate during a follow-up meeting on Thursday, July 30. Commissioners rejected the higher rate in an 8-5 vote. Nine votes were needed for passage.

The higher tax rate was expected to help fund 2 percent pay raises for Anderson County Schools teachers and staff and county employees. It was also expected to generate another $423,000 in funding for Oak Ridge Schools and $134,000 for Clinton Schools. [Read more…]

City Council to consider tax rate on second, final reading on Monday

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Oak Ridge City Council on July 27, 2015

The Oak Ridge City Council raised the trash pickup fee by $3.50 during a special budget meeting on Monday, July 27, 2015, and the Council set aside an extra $260,000 for capital projects such as buildings and schools. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The Oak Ridge City Council will have a second and final meeting on Monday, August 3, to adopt the new property tax rate of $2.52.

The previous tax rate had been $2.39 per $100 of assessed value, so the new rate is 13 cents higher than the old one.

The new tax-neutral rate provided by Tennessee officials went up because overall property assessments went down in Anderson and Roane counties in the five-year reappraisals completed this year. Since property assessments went down in those two counties, the tax-neutral rate went up in the counties and cities within them, including Clinton, Norris, Oliver Springs, and Rocky Top.

Oak Ridge is the only one of those seven governments that, as of now, does not plan to increase its property tax rate beyond the tax-neutral rate. With the help of some last-minute changes, Oak Ridge officials were able to balance the budget in a way that doesn’t require a local increase in the property tax rate. And the budget still proposes 2 percent pay raises for municipal workers and Oak Ridge Schools teachers and staff. [Read more…]

New tax revenues plus cuts will fund pay raises in Anderson schools

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Rachel Minardo at Anderson County Commission

Rachel Minardo, president of the Anderson County Education Association, had advocated for a 4 percent pay raise for county school teachers and staff. Above, she talks to the 16-member Anderson County Commission in Clinton on Monday, July 20, 2015. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

CLINTON—New tax revenues of about $700,000 plus about $100,000 in cuts will allow Anderson County Schools to fund 2 percent pay raises for teachers and staff, the county budget director said Wednesday.

The Anderson County Commission approved a 10-cent increase in the property tax rate on Monday, July 20, and eight cents of that was for schools. Anderson County Schools will get about $700,000 from the tax rate increase, but at last week’s meeting, school officials said they still had to come up with another $100,000 or so to fund the 2 percent raises.

Chris Phillips, Anderson County accounts and budget director, said the school system was able to do that in a revised budget submitted to the county government on Wednesday. [Read more…]

AC Senior Center dealt serious setback

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Information from WYSH Radio

The one company that had expressed interest in leasing a building on South Seivers Boulevard to be used as an Anderson County Senior Center informed county leaders on Tuesday that they were withdrawing the offer.

B&B Properties had offered to lease the 10,000-square foot building to the county for five years at a cost of $1,896 per month but, in a letter to Anderson County Commission Chairman Robert McKamey, said that was no longer feasible.

The company recently leased space in Oak Ridge’s Jackson Tower to a group of doctors, which has resulted in a lack of parking for both the insurance operations housed there and the medical practice, so the company said it will be relocating some of those insurance operations to the building near downtown Clinton. [Read more…]

Tax rate increases, changes in AC, Clinton, Oliver Springs, RC, Rocky Top

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Increases in the property tax rate have been approved or are anticipated in budgets that have already passed in Anderson County, Clinton, Oliver Springs, Roane County, and Rocky Top.

Those increases are in addition to the increases already expected because of a drop in overall property assessments in Anderson and Roane counties. The 4 percent drop in Anderson County and 3.47 percent decline in Roane County mean the tax-neutral rate—the rate meant to bring in the same amount of revenues after a reappraisal as before—goes up.

The highest tax increase, which includes a 6-cent change in the certified tax rate after five-year reappraisals, is 40 cents. That’s in Rocky Top, where the new tax rate is $2 per $100 of assessed value.

The lowest so far is in Anderson County, where county commissioners have approved a 10-cent increase for 2 percent pay raises for school and county employees. That’s in addition to the roughly 16-cent increase in the tax-neutral, or certified, tax rate.

Oak Ridge will be the last of those half-dozen governments to consider any changes to the tax-neutral rate. In Oak Ridge, the rate has been calculated at $2.52, up 13 cents from the current $2.39.

Oak Ridge could also be the only one of those half-dozen governments that doesn’t add a tax rate increase to this year’s higher tax-neutral rate. So far, it appears that a majority of Oak Ridge City Council members could support the $2.52 rate, although two Council members, Trina Baughn and Rick Chinn, have advocated for a reduction, possibly by two cents to $2.50.

Here is information on the increases or potential increases: [Read more…]

AC Commission approves 10-cent tax rate increase for pay raises

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Rachel Minardo at Anderson County Commission

Rachel Minardo, president of the Anderson County Education Association, and others have advocated for a 4 percent pay raise for county school teachers and staff. Above, Minardo talks to the 16-member Anderson County Commission in Clinton on Monday. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 4 p.m.

CLINTON—After rejecting a few other proposals, Anderson County commissioners on Monday approved a 10-cent property tax rate increase to fund 2 percent pay raises for county employees and school teachers and staff.

The vote for the tax rate increase was 9-5-1.

Eight cents of the 10-cent increase is for Anderson County Schools, and the other two cents will cover the pay raise for county employees, with the exception of elected officials and county commissioners.

Earlier in the five-hour meeting, commissioners rejected proposals to:

  • raise the property tax rate by 10 cents for a 2 percent pay raise for the schools,
  • raise the tax rate by 5 cents for a 1 percent raise,
  • approve the school budget as submitted with no tax increase,
  • raise the property tax rate by 7.5 cents for the schools, and
  • use $1.7 million from the fund balance for a one-time bonus for schools in Anderson County, Oak Ridge, and Clinton.

Teachers said they haven’t had a pay raise since 2012, and they last received a bonus in 2013 and that was $200. They have said all the surrounding school districts except Campbell County pay more, and they want to be able to recruit and retain good teachers—and not be a training ground for other districts. [Read more…]

AC Commissioner Biloski resigning before move to Florida

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Robin Biloski

Robin Biloski

Note: This story was updated at 9:45 a.m.

CLINTON—Anderson County Commissioner Robin Biloski is resigning August 3 because she and her husband Bill are moving to Madeira Beach, Florida.

First elected in 2006, Biloski has served two four-year terms on County Commission. Re-elected for a second time in August 2014, she is now in her ninth year and represents District 8, which includes Emory Valley, Hendrix Creek, and Woodland in Oak Ridge.

Biloski was the only woman on County Commission for eight years, and she served as vice chair for three years and also chaired the Operations Committee.

She has also served for six years on the Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission. [Read more…]

Roane reappraisals show 3.47 percent assessment drop; OR tax rate calculated at $2.52

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Jason Mumpower

Jason Mumpower

Note: This story was last updated at 5 p.m.

Roane County properties showed an overall 3.47 percent drop in assessed values in the five-year reappraisal process taken over by state officials this year, and the tax-neutral property tax rate in the City of Oak Ridge has been calculated at $2.52, the Tennessee Comptroller’s Office announced Thursday.

The tax-neutral rate is up from the current $2.39 per $100 of assessed value, a 13-cent increase.

Separately, the Oak Ridge City Council has been asked to consider a tax rate increase of up to eight cents, with a one-cent increase requested by the municipal staff and a seven-cent increase requested by the Oak Ridge Board of Education. The one-cent increase would help maintain city services and allow for a 2 percent pay raise for city employees, and the seven-cent increase would help cover a deficit and add money for salaries and staff, including a 3 percent pay raise.

Any tax increase, if approved by city officials, would be in addition to the tax-neutral rate calculated by the state. Each additional cent on the property tax rate generates about another $90,000 in revenue. A one-cent increase would cost the owner of a $145,000 house another $3.63 per year. An eight-cent increase could cost that homeowner another $29 per year. [Read more…]

Anderson County teachers disappointed as commissioners delay vote on budget, pay raise

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Anderson County Budget Committee and Rachel Minardo, Chris Phillips, and Connie Aytes

Rachel Minardo, right, a first-grade teacher at Claxton Elementary School and president of the Anderson County Education Association, asks for a 4 percent pay raise for county teachers and school staff during a May 28 public hearing on the county budget. Also pictured are Chris Phillips, left, director of accounts and budgets for Anderson County, and Connie Aytes, deputy budget director.

 

CLINTON—Anderson County teachers were disappointed as they watched county commissioners postpone a vote on the budget and a possible 4 percent pay raise on Tuesday.

But they’ll be back on Monday, June 29, for the next meeting of the Anderson County Commission, said Rachel Minardo, a first-grade teacher at Claxton Elementary School and president of the Anderson County Education Association.

It’s not clear if the 16-member Commission will agree to fund the school system’s request for a 4 percent raise for all teachers and staff. That’s what the Anderson County Board of Education unanimously recommended last month. The request could require the equivalent of an 18-cent increase in the property tax rate.

But during debate over proposed pay raises for some county employees on Tuesday, several commissioners said they want to be consistent and fair to all workers. [Read more…]

AC Senior Center continues march to fruition

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Information from WYSH Radio

The Anderson County Commission approved a measure Monday night that knocks down one more hurdle in senior citizens’ quest for a new senior center.

Commissioners voted unanimously to ask Mayor Terry Frank to formally request, in writing, that ETHRA voluntarily end its contract to operate the Office on Aging and instead cede control to the county. That, coupled with the formality of submitting a request for proposals—or RFP—for vendors with a possible site, means that the Office on Aging is indeed one step closer to moving into a new and larger building.

Currently, they have an offer for a lease on a building on South Seivers Boulevard in the heart of Clinton to serve as a new senior center and all indications are that once the bureaucratic hurdles are cleared, they could begin moving in by the end of this summer. [Read more…]