Oak Ridge Today

Obama administration delays employer health care mandate until 2015

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Mark Mazur

Mark Mazur

Responding to business concerns, the Obama administration announced Tuesday that it would delay until 2015 the new health care law’s mandate that employers provide workers with health insurance.

New reporting requirements of the Affordable Care Act will also be delayed a year. Questions about the new employer mandate and reporting requirements have been a concern for businesses across the nation, including in and around Oak Ridge.

“We have heard concerns about the complexity of the requirements and the need for more time to implement them effectively,” said Mark J. Mazur, assistant secretary for tax policy. Mazur made the announcement on the U.S. Treasury Department’s website. [Read more…]

Guest column: Researches EPA sewer order, says more work needed

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Last month, Oak Ridgers were hit with a water/sewer rate increase for the second time in nine months to pay for $15 million worth of debt that you were told (incorrectly) was issued to cover a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency mandate. On Monday night, City Council is preparing to approve another $18 million in debt for the same cause, which will result in subsequent rate increases.

A statement I received this weekend from one resident sums up the frustrations that so many of you have been sharing with me: “Utility rates (water, sewer, electrical, trash pickup, etc.) keep going up; the city and county property ‘double’ taxation is simply too much. It so happens that our group of friends and us discuss the idea of moving to other less costly vicinities nearby more often than before. We would strongly suggest that our city government start budgeting our expenditures with the money we have.”

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Guest column: Let’s work hard rather than ‘rubber stamping’ water, sewer debt

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We are only a few days into 2013 and most of us have discovered that we will have to make do with less this year. Before January ends, Oak Ridgers will realize that fact again when they receive their water and sewer bills, which will reflect the second rate hike since last May.

But before you have a chance to see your newly increased bill, Oak Ridge City Council may take an action that will cause your rates to rise a third time before 2013 ends. On Jan. 14, City Council will vote whether or not to apply for two state loans totaling $18 million. This debt, in addition to a large portion of the $15 million issued since September 2011, will pay for work affiliated with a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency administrative order that requires the city to stop sewer overflows.

All $33 million borrowed will be paid by Oak Ridgers through multiple increases in your water and sewer rates. The amount of those increases is not determined until after each round of debt is issued. In other words, the city first borrows on your behalf and then determines how much it will charge you without consideration for your ability to pay.

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