Oak Ridge Today

School budget would ask city for $650K, use $1.75M from fund balance

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Oak Ridge Board of Education May 26, 2015

The Oak Ridge Board of Education on Tuesday unanimously approved a budget that would use $1.75 million from the school system’s fund balance and ask the city for about $650,000. The request for more money still has to be considered by the Oak Ridge City Council.

 

Note: This story was last updated at 11:12 a.m. May 27.

The Oak Ridge Board of Education on Tuesday approved a budget that would use $1.75 million from the school system’s fund balance and ask the city for about $650,000.

Those two actions would help Oak Ridge Schools cover a deficit of roughly $638,000 and meet a total of $1.75 million in other desired expenses, or “additional investment,” including:

  • about $1.1 million for 3 percent pay raises with benefits,
  • $484,000 for step increases based on experience, and
  • approximately $211,000 for staff, including a communications director, four technology-related positions, and a teacher’s assistant for an elementary behavioral class. The four technology-related jobs include an instructional technology coach, an applications administrator, and two technology technicians.

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Letter: Register of Deeds audit shows surplus, refutes opponents’ claims

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Tim Shelton

Tim Shelton

Note: This is a copy of a press release submitted by Anderson County Register of Deeds Tim Shelton. Shelton and his challenger, Bill Gallaher, have had a back-and-forth debate about office finances. You can see Gallaher’s press release here.

The Anderson County Register of Deeds office has concluded an internal audit of all revenues and expenditures dating back to 2002, the year that current Register of Deeds Tim Shelton first took office. The results appear to refute the claims made by opposition candidate Bill Gallaher that the office is operating in the red. According to the audit results, the Register of Deeds office has generated a surplus of $546,286 over the past 12 years, with revenues coming in at $3,661,700 and expenditures totaling $3,115,700 for the same time period.

“I felt it important to provide this information to the public so that the confidence which our citizens have in the register of deeds office could be validated,”” stated Shelton. “”We went receipt by receipt, totaling every revenue and expenditure since I took office, double and triple checking to ensure that nothing was missed.””

The controversy of fees began a few weeks ago when a mail piece was sent out by Bill Gallaher, who is opposing current Register of Deeds Tim Shelton in the August 7 general election. Shelton disputed the accusations during two recent joint appearances by both men, one on radio and the other at a public forum in Oak Ridge. [Read more…]

Guest column: Strategizing a path to prosperity

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Trina Baughn

Trina Baughn

The problem

This month, the Oak Ridge City Council will establish your property tax rate for 2014 via the approval of our annual city budget. And though it appears that taxes will remain flat, our excessive spending levels are unsustainable and continue to hinder our ability to compete with surrounding communities.

In spite of all the new developments happening as of late, if council approves the budget as proposed, residents and businesses will continue to feel the financial crunch for quite some time. Not only will we retain one of the highest property tax rates in the state, but we’ll also retain one of the largest per capita debt levels in the region. (At nearly $7,000 per person, we have more than four times that of Knox County residents and more than seven times that of Knoxville residents). A dozen more chicken places and grocery store relocations won’t make a dent in the average Oak Ridger’s bills.

If we are to make any kind of progress, we need a strategy that aims to increase revenue while reducing expenditures. This column will focus on increasing our revenue base. I will address budgetary inefficiencies and waste in a follow-up piece next week. [Read more…]

Guest column: Anderson County officials present budget highlights

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By Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank and Budget Director Chris Phillips

As Anderson County government begins the budget process for the 2013/2014 county budget, we wanted to share with the citizens, elected officials, county employees, and all interested parties some of the challenges and opportunities that we face in presenting our County Commission with a balanced, no-tax-increase budget while still providing core services.

Upon first request from all departments, the county’s general fund budget is out of balance by more than $4 million, expenditures over revenues.

Revenues are initially projected at 98 percent of our current year levels. Property assessments (growth) have a slight increase, while things like sales tax and business tax are projected to be down to some extent. While the county’s general fund is not heavily dependent upon federal revenue, budget woes at the federal level have caused concern about some of the revenues that we do receive. [Read more…]

Guest column: City needs a return on public spending on Chamber, ORCVB

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By Leslie Agron and Pat Fain

This coming Monday evening, the Oak Ridge City Council and the city manager will hold a work session that has the potential to become the seminal discussion on the future growth and success of Oak Ridge. This discussion will probably begin with the question of the city contracts with the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce ($250,000) and the Oak Ridge Convention and Visitors Bureau ($400,000) and, unfortunately, it may just end there. If this happens it could be another significant opportunity fumbled.

There are very legitimate reasons to question the continued expenditure of public dollars for the type and quality of results delivered by these two entities. The need for growth of revenue is real. Several years ago, without even a minimal public discussion of what kind of city we want to be in the future, the city and the Chamber entered into a series of open-ended contracts. That produced amorphous and inadequate results. The Chamber can well blame a lack of direction and vision on the city. The city can point to lots of sound and fury and fast food restaurants as being an inadequate answer to long-term financial woes and economic growth needs.

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