Oak Ridge Today

Second and final state approval granted for Oak Ridge Mall redevelopment

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Oak Ridge Mall Concept Plan Featured

The site plan for the redevelopment of the Oak Ridge Mall shows a multi-use, town center development with retail, office, hotel, and residential properties. (Submitted image)

The two state approvals required for the $13 million tax financing agreement for the proposed redevelopment of the Oak Ridge Mall have now been granted.

Tennessee Comptroller Justin P. Wilson notified mall redevelopment representatives of his approval in a Feb. 5 letter.

Earlier, in January, the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development notified project representatives that it had approved the proposed tax increment financing, or TIF, but would not issue a separate letter.

Under Tennessee law, the comptroller and ECD both had to approve the TIF after considering whether its use is in the state’s best interest. The comptroller said it was in the Feb. 5 letter.

ECD approval was granted in a different manner. In a January e-mail, ECD General Counsel Sharon Kolb said the department had received the request for a “best interest” determination for the Oak Ridge Mall on Dec. 19. Since the department did not approve or deny the request within 30 days, it was deemed approved under the Tax Increment Financing Act, Kolb said. [Read more…]

State comptroller approves $13 million agreement for Oak Ridge Mall

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Oak Ridge Mall

The Tennessee Comptroller has approved the use of a $13 million tax financing agreement that could be used for the $85 million redevelopment of the Oak Ridge Mall. The L-shaped mall is pictured at center above.

The Tennessee Comptroller has approved a $13 million tax financing agreement that could be used for the $85 million redevelopment of the Oak Ridge Mall.

The approval was announced in a Wednesday letter from Tennessee Comptroller Justin P. Wilson to Nashville law firm Bradley, Arant, Boult, and Cummings, which is working with Crosland Southeast, the North Carolina company that wants to redevelop the mostly empty mall.

The 20-year tax increment financing, or TIF, agreement, would use new property tax revenues generated at the 59-acre site to help pay for development costs, possibly including tearing down the existing space between the two remaining anchor stores, JCPenney and Belk, as well as for replacing aging infrastructure and building new roads. [Read more…]

Report: AC money spent on part-time fiscal analyst was unauthorized

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Terry Frank

Terry Frank

The money spent on a part-time fiscal analyst hired one year ago by Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank was an unauthorized expenditure, a new state report said.

The Anderson County Commission had twice denied funding for the position, and the budget account for the position contained no money, said the annual financial report, which was prepared by the county’s Accounts and Budget Office and independent state auditors.

The report said the use of county revenues from such sources as taxes, county aid funds, and fines must be approved by county legislative bodies.

“Management failed to hold spending to the limits authorized by the County Commission, which resulted in unauthorized expenditures,” said the report, which is available on the Tennessee Comptroller’s website. [Read more…]

Comptroller releases report on methamphetamine production in Tennessee

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Methamphetamine production continues in small laboratories in Tennessee and elsewhere around the country in spite of new laws regulating and tracking the sale of pharmacy products used to manufacture the illegal drug.

That is one of the findings of a report released today by the Comptroller’s Offices of Research and Education Accountability about attempts to control access to legal products sold at pharmacies which are later used to create methamphetamine.

[Read more…]