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Council approves $325,000 transfer for operations at Centennial Golf Course

Posted at 11:32 pm December 14, 2015
By John Huotari 39 Comments

Centennial Golf Course Dec 10, 2015

The Tennessee Centennial Golf Course is pictured above in Oak Ridge on Thursday, Dec. 10, 2015. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 10:50 a.m. Dec. 15.

Despite some opposition, the Oak Ridge City Council on Monday approved a $325,000 transfer for operations at Tennessee Centennial Golf Course.

About $225,000 of the transfer, a cash infusion, would be for outstanding accounts payable, including for expenses that include clothing in the pro shop, a management fee, fertilizer, and irrigation costs. Another $100,000 is operational funding for the winter, including maintenance of the greens.

It’s the first non-debt related transfer from the city’s General Fund to the Golf Course Fund since the golf course was built, Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson said. Separately, the city still owes about $3 million in debt-related bond payments on the golf course. It’s expected to be paid off in five years.

Oak Ridge City Council member Trina Baughn cast the only vote against the operating transfer. All six of the other City Council members voted “yes.” [Read more…]

Filed Under: Business, Front Page News, Government, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge, Top Stories Tagged With: Billy Casper Golf, Centennial Golf Course, Charlie Hensley, Chuck Hope, Don Tillar Jr., Ellen Smith, general fund, golf course, Golf Course Fund, Mack Bailey, Mark Watson, Nick Bednar, Oak Ridge City Council, operating transfer, Parcel A, Rick Chinn, Trina Baughn, Warren Gooch

Council to consider $325,000 for operations at Centennial Golf Course

Posted at 9:00 pm December 10, 2015
By John Huotari 1 Comment

Centennial Golf Course Dec 10, 2015

The Tennessee Centennial Golf Course in Oak Ridge is pictured above on Thursday, Dec. 10, 2015. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The Oak Ridge City Council on Monday will consider a $325,000 transfer for operations at Tennessee Centennial Golf Course. If approved, the operating transfer would be the first non-debt related transfer from the city’s General Fund to the Golf Course Fund since the golf course was built, Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson said.

About $225,000 of the transfer, a cash infusion, would be for outstanding accounts payable. Another $100,000 would be operational funding for the winter, including maintenance of the greens.

The General Fund would still have a balance equivalent to two months of operations after the transfer, Watson said in a memo to City Council members.

Watson said the golf course was affected by several factors this past year, most notably weather. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Front Page News, Government, Government, Meetings and Events, Oak Ridge, Recreation, Slider, Sports Tagged With: Billy Casper Golf, Centennial Golf Course, Don Tillar Jr., general fund, Golf Course Fund, Mark Watson, Oak Ridge City Council, Tennessee Centennial Golf Course

Moody’s upgrades Anderson County’s rating, removes ‘negative outlook’

Posted at 1:25 pm July 16, 2015
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Terry Frank

Terry Frank

CLINTON—Moody’s Investors Service announced from New York that they have affirmed the Aa2 General Obligation, or GO, rating of Anderson County and have upgraded Anderson County’s rating by removing the “negative outlook,” officials said.

During bond issuance for rural elementary and rural high school bonds, as well as tax anticipation notes, Moody’s assigned Anderson County an Aa2 “negative outlook” rating in the 2010/2011 budget year, a press release said.

Highlights from Moody’s rating report of July 9, 2015, noted that the company lifted the negative outlook and that “improved financial performance” led to “reserve and liquidity growth,” the release said. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Anderson County, Front Page News, Government Tagged With: Aa2 General Obligation, Aa2 negative outlook, Anderson County, bond issuance, Christopher K. Phillips, financial performance, fund balance, general fund, GO, Moody's, Moody's Investors Service, negative outlook, tax anticipation notes, tax base, Terry Frank

City proposes one-cent tax rate increase; schools’ request would add seven

Posted at 9:03 pm June 1, 2015
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Mark Watson

Mark Watson

Note: This story was last updated at 3:18 a.m. June 2.

The budget proposed by the Oak Ridge city staff on Monday includes a one-cent increase in the property tax rate. It would help maintain city services and allow for a 2 percent pay raise for city employees, Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson told City Council members.

Meanwhile, the budget proposed by Oak Ridge Schools asks for the equivalent of a seven-cent tax increase. It would help cover a deficit and add money for salaries and staff, including a 3 percent pay raise. That budget has already been approved by the Oak Ridge Board of Education.

The two requests total eight cents. They were presented to the Oak Ridge City Council on Monday.

It’s not clear yet if the seven-member City Council will agree to any increases for the city or schools. The Council will consider the budget in the first of two readings on Monday, June 8, and on second and final reading on Monday, June 15. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Education, Government, K-12, Meetings and Events, Oak Ridge, Top Stories Tagged With: Anderson County, budget, certified tax rate, general fund, Keys Fillauer, Mark Watson, municipal budget, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge Board of Education, Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce, Oak Ridge City Council, Oak Ridge Convention and Visitors Bureau, pay raises, property assessment, property tax rate, Ray Evans, reappraisals, Roane County, rowing course, sales taxes, schools budget, Steve Jones, tax rate increase

State: Tennessee roads good, but per-capita highway revenue the lowest

Posted at 11:15 am January 20, 2015
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Tennessee’s per-capita revenue for highways in 2010 was the lowest of the 50 states, but its roads are generally rated as being of good quality, officials said Tuesday.

Tennessee was fourth-highest among 50 states in the percentage of roads in good condition and 13th-lowest in percent of deficient bridges.

A study by the Offices of Research and Education Accountability in the Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury said the state’s fuel taxes have stagnated and are not expected to be sufficient to maintain existing infrastructure and meet long-term transportation demands. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Front Page News, Government, State Tagged With: bridges, debt financing, diesel fuel tax, Fiscal Review Committee, gasoline tax, General Assembly, general fund, highways, infrastructure, Offices of Research and Education Accountability, OREA, roads, Tennessee, Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury, tolls

Anderson County Commission approves budget, tax rate unchanged

Posted at 7:52 am July 16, 2014
By Sara Wise Leave a Comment

Anderson County Commission in June 2014

The Anderson County Commission is pictured above during a June meeting. (Photo by Sara Wise)

CLINTON—The Anderson County Commission approved a budget for Fiscal Year 2015 during a special meeting Tuesday. The budget will not raise property taxes in the county.

Commissioners Tracy Wandell, Rick Meredith, Zach Bates, Jerry White, and John Shuey did not attend, but the other 11 commissioners voted unanimously to approve the budget. Commissioners had called the special session during their June meeting.

Under the budget approved Tuesday, the Oak Ridge property tax rate will remain at $2.347 for every $100 of assessed property value, while property owners in Clinton will continue to pay $2.50 per $100 value. All other property owners in Anderson County pay $2.529 for every $100 of their assessed property values. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Anderson County, Government, Top Stories Tagged With: Anderson County Commission, budget, Clinton, fiscal year, general fund, health care mandates, Oak Ridge, property tax rate, taxes

Anderson County budget process moving along

Posted at 12:16 pm May 20, 2014
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Anderson County Courthouse

The Anderson County Courthouse on Main Street in Clinton is pictured above.

Information from WYSH Radio

As WYSH reported last week, the Anderson County Commission’s Budget Committee has approved County Mayor Terry Frank’s budget proposal for the fiscal year that begins on July 1. The proposed $25 million general fund budget keeps the property tax rate at current levels but does not include pay raises for county workers.

Previously, the budget committee had recommended keeping the funding for all county general fund offices at their current levels, and officials said that the budget does include provisions for a projected half-percent increase in the cost of health insurance and state-mandated salary increases for certain county officeholders.

When the various county departments submitted their initial budget requests, the total was about $2 million out of balance but “with understanding and help, we whittled that down,” according to Frank’s summary of the budget process released late last week. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Anderson County, Government, Top Stories Tagged With: Anderson County Commission, Anderson County school system, budget, Budget Committee, budget proposal, county workers, general fund, general fund budget, health insurance, pay raises, property tax hike, property tax rate, salary increases, tax increase, Terry Frank, WYSH Radio

2013 in Review: Accomplishments, improvement, and stability

Posted at 9:52 am January 9, 2014
By Oak Ridge Today Guest Columns Leave a Comment

Terry Frank

Terry Frank

By Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank and Director of Accounts and Budgets Christopher K. Phillips

We have just released our Popular Annual Financial Report for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2013, and we wanted to share a snapshot of our county’s financial health. It’s important to know where we are, not only for the sake of transparency, but because the numbers are important for our future as a community.

As a nation, we’re enduring some challenging economic times, and more than ever, as businesses and industry choose where to locate, they are scrutinizing the financial health and stability of local governments as part of their decision making process. We believe when they look at Anderson County, they’ll like what they see.

Noteworthy accomplishments from 2013: [Read more…]

Filed Under: Guest Columns, Opinion Tagged With: 2013, Anderson County, annual financial report, budget, Christopher K. Phillips, financial health, general fund, Moody's, stability, Standard and Poor's, Terry Frank, year in review

Council passes no-tax-increase budget

Posted at 9:48 pm May 28, 2013
By John Huotari 2 Comments

Oak Ridge City Council Budget Meeting

The Oak Ridge City Council will consider the municipal budget, which is not expected to raise property taxes, during a second and final reading Tuesday evening.

The Oak Ridge City Council has approved a budget that does not raise the property tax rate in the fiscal year that starts July 1.

The budget provides $50,000 more for the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce than Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson had requested, and it gives city employees a 1 percent pay raise.

Council members deferred a request from the Oak Ridge Board of Education to match $50,000 in spending for one of two new school resource officers at Jefferson and Robertsville middle schools. City officials estimated the cost per SRO is about double the school system’s request, or more than $100,000 per year per officer, when the cost of a police car is included. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Education, Government, K-12, Oak Ridge, Top Stories Tagged With: budget, general fund, Mark Watson, municipal expenditures, Oak Ridge Board of Education, Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce, Oak Ridge City Council, Oak Ridge Schools, pay raise, property tax rate, school resource officers, SRO

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Classifieds

Availability of the draft environmental assessment for off-site depleted uranium manufacturing (DOE/EA-2252)

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) announces the … [Read More...]

Public Notice: NNSA announces no significant impact of Y-12 Development Organization operations at Horizon Center

AVAILABILITY OF THE FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR THE OFFSITE HOUSING OF THE Y-12 DEVELOPMENT … [Read More...]

ADFAC seeks contractors for five homes

Aid to Distressed Families of Appalachian Counties (ADFAC) is a non-profit community based agency, … [Read More...]

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