Oak Ridge Today

Council passes no-tax-increase budget

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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…]

Council considers budget tonight

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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 will consider the municipal budget on second and final reading tonight.

If approved, the budget would not raise property taxes, but it would give employees a 1 percent pay raise and add another $50,000 for the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce contract.

Tonight’s meeting also includes a presentation of the Oak Ridge Schools’ budget, which was approved on second and final reading on Thursday. [Read more…]

Council approves no-tax-increase budget that could be amended

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Mark Watson

Mark Watson

The Oak Ridge City Council on Monday gave initial approval to a budget that does not raise property taxes but could be amended.

Council members Trina Baughn and Chuck Hope proposed amendments that could be considered during a special meeting before second and final reading of the budget on May 28.

The budget presented by City Manager Mark Watson on Monday would give city employees a 1 percent pay raise, cut funding for the Oak Ridge Convention and Visitors Bureau, and change the city’s contract with the Chamber of Commerce. [Read more…]

Council considers budget with no tax increase, less money for Chamber, ORCVB

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Mark Watson

Mark Watson

The Oak Ridge City Council on Monday will consider a budget that does not raise property taxes but could cut funding for the Chamber of Commerce as well as the Convention and Visitors Bureau.

It would include contracts with economic development consultants Ray Evans and Steve Jones and a 1 percent cost-of-living pay raise for city employees.

Under the budget proposed by Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson, the property tax rate would stay at $2.39 per $100 of assessed value. [Read more…]

State of State: Education investment, fiscal restraint set Tennessee apart

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Governor Bill Haslam

Gov. Bill Haslam

NASHVILLE – Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam on Monday delivered his 2013 State of the State address before a joint session of the General Assembly, contrasting Tennessee with Washington, D.C., and other states across the country that have struggled to keep their fiscal houses in order.

“Unlike the news coming out of our nation’s capital and so many other states around the country, good things are happening in Tennessee,” Haslam said. “We have a long history of fiscal restraint that crosses party lines. We have been deliberate about not spending money we don’t have and in making a concerted effort to save for the future…And now we are well-positioned to continue to invest in a thoughtful, strategic manner.”

[Read more…]