Oak Ridge Today

Letter: Register of Deeds opponent says six-year deficit exceeds $440,000

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Bill Gallaher

Bill Gallaher

Note: This is a copy of a press release submitted by Bill Gallaher, who is challenging Anderson County Register of Deeds Tim Shelton in the August 7 general election. Gallaher and Shelton have had a back-and-forth debate about office finances. You can see Shelton’s press release here.

The burden on the taxpayers of Anderson County to maintain operations in the Register of Deeds Office just got heavier. The taxpayer savings account known as the Undesignated Fund Balance decreased by $92,391.20 this summer due to the Register of Deeds office excessive spending.

Bill Gallaher expressed concern that the Register of Deeds Office is heading in the wrong direction.

“This makes six straight years that our current Register of Deeds has allowed the office to be bailed out by the taxpayers,” Gallaher said. “It is an alarming amount of money that is required to subsidize the Register of Deeds Office each year.” [Read more…]

Oak Ridge Schools walk zone expanded to 1.5 miles, could affect 1,800

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Charlsey Cofer at Oak Ridge School Board Meeting

Oak Ridge Preschool Interim Principal Charlsey Cofer, left, says that cutting preschool transportation could result in fewer students, which would in turn result in less funding.

Note: This story was last updated at 3:15 a.m. June 25.

Starting this fall, bus service will no longer be offered to students who live within 1.5 miles of Oak Ridge schools. The move is expected to save $500,000. It’s part of a larger effort to reduce a $1.25 million deficit.

The expansion of the “parent responsibility zone” for school transportation was the largest change approved by the Oak Ridge Board of Education on Monday. The 1.5-mile walk zone could affect 1,800 students, said Karen Gagliano, Oak Ridge Schools director of business and support services.

Other budget changes approved Monday include a delay in the purchase of textbooks, a move expected to save about $330,000, and a $123,000 reduction in the number of planned hires of technicians. The school system now expects more than $200,000 in additional revenue from state Basic Education Program funding and sales and property tax revenues.

A technology initiative known as 1:1 is no longer being considered as originally envisioned, and 2 percent pay raises for school staff members are off the table.

But the school board worked to save preschool transportation, a program that costs roughly $74,000 per year. Interim Preschool Principal Charlsey Cofer warned that cutting transportation for preschoolers could result in a drop in the number of students, which would in turn affect funding. She said about 170 students used the transportation last year out of more than 200 who were enrolled. [Read more…]

House-passed budget could avoid second shutdown; Senate may vote this week

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Y-12 National Security Complex Sign

A bipartisan budget bill being considered in Congress could avoid a second government shutdown and provide relief to federal employees and government contractors in Oak Ridge, including at the Y-12 National Security Complex, which was prepared to furlough up to 3,600 workers during the first shutdown in October.

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed a budget bill that could avoid a second government shutdown in mid-January, a development that will likely offer some relief to federal employees and government contractors in Oak Ridge—and to the businesses that support them.

U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, a Tennessee Republican, said he supported the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013 in the House on Thursday.

“Tonight, the House took a modest step toward reforming spending and setting our government on a more stable path,” said Fleischmann, a second-term congressman whose district includes Oak Ridge.

But the bill still has to pass the deeply divided Senate, which is preparing to take up the budget bill this week. The Washington Post reported that Democrats are still trying to come up with the 60 votes necessary to break a GOP-led filibuster in the Senate. [Read more…]

Alexander, Fleischmann release statements on State of the Union

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U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander

U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander

U.S. Representative Chuck Fleischmann

U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann

In his State of the Union speech on Tuesday, President Barack Obama called for raising the minimum wage, doing more to fight global warming, and reducing the deficit through spending cuts and tax increases.

The president also called for voting on new gun laws, reforming Medicare and the tax code, and working with states to make high-quality preschool available to every child.

[Read more…]