• About
    • About Us
    • What We Cover
  • Advertise
    • Advertise
    • Our Advertisers
  • Contact
  • Donate
  • Send News
  • Subscribe

Oak Ridge Today

  • Home
  • Sign in
  • News
    • Business
    • Community
    • Education
    • Government
    • Health
    • Police and Fire
    • U.S. Department of Energy
    • Weather
  • Sports
    • High School
    • Middle School
    • Recreation
    • Rowing
    • Youth
  • Entertainment
    • Arts
    • Dancing
    • Movies
    • Music
    • Television
    • Theater
  • Premium Content
  • Obituaries
  • Classifieds




Guest column: Do our competitors ‘hammer us’ on property tax rates?

Posted at 1:50 pm May 28, 2013
By Myron Iwanski 39 Comments

Myron Iwanski

Myron Iwanski

I agree with Martin McBride that Oak Ridge is a great place to live. However, I do not agree with his statement in recent columns that high property taxes are the reason Anderson County’s and Oak Ridge’s populations are not growing as fast as those in some area counties.

The following information from county and city audit reports and websites, the University of Tennessee County Technical Advisory Service, and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics website help make my point.

 

Tax Trends

Oak Ridge and Anderson County taxes are rising much slower than the CPI

As shown in the graph to the left, Anderson County has had just two tax rate increases in the last 10 years that have resulted in a total county tax rate increase of 6.4 percent for Oak Ridge residents. Oak Ridge’s city taxes have not gone up in six years and have increased a total of only 8.6 percent in 10 years. Impressive when you consider the Consumer Price Index has gone up 28.5 percent during those 10 years.

Stated another way, an average resident paying $1,500 per year in combined county and city taxes has seen county taxes go up $48 and city taxes $65, for a total increase of $113 (or 7.5 percent) in 10 years. If taxes would have gone up at the rate of other goods and services based on the CPI, combined taxes would have gone up $428 in those 10 years.

Oak Ridge taxes are comparable to other nearby full service cities

Knoxville residents pay city and county taxes at total rate of $4.82, Maryville pays $4.32, Alcoa $4.15, and Oak Ridge $4.74. Knox County also has a wheel tax, and Blount Count is currently voting on one.

Homeowners in Knoxville pay slight more in property taxes than those in Oak Ridge. A homeowner with a $100,000 home in Maryville pays $105 less each year in property taxes than in Oak Ridge. I doubt most folks are willing to drive an extra half-hour each day to work to save $2 per week on taxes.

Anderson County taxes are in the middle range of area counties and the State

County property tax rates in the Oak Ridge portion of Anderson County are the same as Knox County. Our property taxes are the same as the average of the six counties bordering Anderson County if you factor in wheel taxes that are in place in five of these six counties. If you factor in population, most Tennessee residents pay a higher county tax rate than Anderson County.

Many other cities are not full-service cities like Oak Ridge, so costs for these services must be factored into tax rates when making comparisons. Farragut is in a unique situation in that it receives substantial sales tax revenue as a regional retail center—with the help of county tax breaks provided to many of its retail developments.

With tax rates held flat for 10 years – where is the growth?

Data from the last 10 years do not support Mr. McBride’s claim. According to Mr. McBride, the reason Oak Ridge and Anderson County lag in population growth are increasing property tax rates. If property taxes were the main factor in deciding where to live, we would have expected more growth after holding the tax rate almost flat for over 10 years.

How do we grow?

Mr. McBride is correct in saying our population growth rate in Anderson County and Oak Ridge is lower than several other area counties. There probably are many reasons why—with some factors we cannot control. But I do not believe relatively small property tax differences is the reason.

Improved retail is one way to increase population growth. Retail is improving, and I believe it will help attract residents and generate sale tax revenue to help pay for vital services.

No one likes taxes. We must continue to work hard to hold the line on property taxes to the extent possible, but we should also maintain high-quality services. The services are the reason many of us chose to live here.

One thing we can all do to help growth is to spread the word about what a great place Oak Ridge is to live. I agree with Mr. McBride that outside Realtors are probably pressuring new Oak Ridge workers to locate outside Oak Ridge. We don’t need to give these outside Realtors information to use against us that is misleading and not supported by facts.

Myron Iwanski represents Anderson County Commission District 8 in Oak Ridge.

Filed Under: Guest Columns Tagged With: Anderson County, Anderson County Commission, Consumer Price Index, CPI, full-service city, growth, homeowner, Martin McBride, Myron Iwanski, Oak Ridge, population growth, property tax rates, property taxes, services, tax rate increases, taxes, wheel taxes

Advertisements

 

Join the club!

If you appreciate our work, please consider subscribing. Besides helping us, your subscription will give you access to our premium content.

Most of our stories are free, brought to you by Oak Ridge Today with help from our members—advertisers, subscribers, and sponsors.

But some are premium content, available only to members. Those are in-depth, investigative, or exclusive stories that are available only on Oak Ridge Today. They generally require at least four hours to report, write, and publish.

You can subscribe for as little as $5 per month.

You can read more about your options here.

We currently offer five primary subscription options to readers, and they include benefits.

Basic

  • Basic monthly subscription ($5 per month)—access premium content
  • Basic annual subscription ($60 per year)—access premium content

Pro

  • Pro monthly subscription ($10 per month)—access premium content, get breaking news emails first, and submit one press release or public service announcement per month
  • Pro annual subscription ($100 per year)—save $20 per year, access premium content, get breaking news emails first, and submit one press release or public service announcement per month

Temporary

  • Temporary access ($3 per week for two weeks)

We also have advanced subscription options. You can see them here.

We also accept donations. You can donate here.

If you prefer to send a check for a subscription or donation, you may do so by mailing one to:

Oak Ridge Today
P.O. Box 6064
Oak Ridge, TN 37831

Thank you for your consideration and for reading Oak Ridge Today. We appreciate your support.

Commenting Guidelines

We welcome comments, but we ask you to follow a few guidelines:

1) Please use your real name, including last name. Please also use a valid e-mail address.
2) Be civil. Don't insult others, attack their character, or get personal.
3) Stick to the issues.
4) No profanity.
5) Keep your comments to a reasonable length and to a reasonable number per article.

We reserve the right to remove any comments that violate these guidelines. Comments held for review, usually from those posting for the first time, may not post if they violate these guidelines. Thank you for your patience and understanding. Thank you also for reading Oak Ridge Today and for participating in the discussion.

More information is available here.

Recent Posts

  • Rocky Top woman pleads guilty to murder, sentenced to life
  • REAC/TS welcomes new team members: John Crapo, Josh Hayes and David Quillen
  • NASA Postdoctoral Program seeks early career and senior scientists for prestigious fellowships at its locations across the U.S.
  • ORAU names Brandon Criswell associate general counsel
  • Update on downtown Oak Ridge Tuesday
  • TVA has virtual open house for Clinch River Nuclear Site
  • Science and supercomputers at ORNL topic of Mar. 8 talk
  • First Presbyterian offers free meals & groceries on Mar. 10
  • Secret City Academy student charged with terrorism after alleged shooting, bomb threats
  • ORHS Masquers presents ‘Into the Woods’

Search Oak Ridge Today

About Us

About Oak Ridge Today
What We Cover

How To

Advertise
Subscribe

Contact Us

Contact Oak Ridge Today

Copyright © 2022 Oak Ridge Today