Oak Ridge Today

Property tax bills sent out, payments due Oct. 31

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Oak Ridge property tax bills were sent out, and payments are due without penalty by October 31.

The tax statements should have been received by September 1, the City of Oak Ridge said.

The city received the certified tax rate—or tax-neutral rate—from Tennessee this summer and adopted the $2.52 rate without changing it. That’s in contrast to other surrounding city and county governments, including Anderson and Roane counties.

Problems in Roane County’s re-assessments delayed the city from setting the tax rate and sending out tax bills when expected. But those problems were resolved as of August 3.

The new tax-neutral rate went up in Oak Ridge because total property assessments went down in Anderson and Roane counties. The tax-neutral rate is meant to bring in the same amount of revenue after a five-year reappraisal as before. [Read more…]

City Council to consider tax rate on second, final reading on Monday

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Oak Ridge City Council on July 27, 2015

The Oak Ridge City Council raised the trash pickup fee by $3.50 during a special budget meeting on Monday, July 27, 2015, and the Council set aside an extra $260,000 for capital projects such as buildings and schools. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The Oak Ridge City Council will have a second and final meeting on Monday, August 3, to adopt the new property tax rate of $2.52.

The previous tax rate had been $2.39 per $100 of assessed value, so the new rate is 13 cents higher than the old one.

The new tax-neutral rate provided by Tennessee officials went up because overall property assessments went down in Anderson and Roane counties in the five-year reappraisals completed this year. Since property assessments went down in those two counties, the tax-neutral rate went up in the counties and cities within them, including Clinton, Norris, Oliver Springs, and Rocky Top.

Oak Ridge is the only one of those seven governments that, as of now, does not plan to increase its property tax rate beyond the tax-neutral rate. With the help of some last-minute changes, Oak Ridge officials were able to balance the budget in a way that doesn’t require a local increase in the property tax rate. And the budget still proposes 2 percent pay raises for municipal workers and Oak Ridge Schools teachers and staff. [Read more…]

New tax revenues plus cuts will fund pay raises in Anderson schools

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Rachel Minardo at Anderson County Commission

Rachel Minardo, president of the Anderson County Education Association, had advocated for a 4 percent pay raise for county school teachers and staff. Above, she talks to the 16-member Anderson County Commission in Clinton on Monday, July 20, 2015. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

CLINTON—New tax revenues of about $700,000 plus about $100,000 in cuts will allow Anderson County Schools to fund 2 percent pay raises for teachers and staff, the county budget director said Wednesday.

The Anderson County Commission approved a 10-cent increase in the property tax rate on Monday, July 20, and eight cents of that was for schools. Anderson County Schools will get about $700,000 from the tax rate increase, but at last week’s meeting, school officials said they still had to come up with another $100,000 or so to fund the 2 percent raises.

Chris Phillips, Anderson County accounts and budget director, said the school system was able to do that in a revised budget submitted to the county government on Wednesday. [Read more…]

Tax rate increases, changes in AC, Clinton, Oliver Springs, RC, Rocky Top

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Increases in the property tax rate have been approved or are anticipated in budgets that have already passed in Anderson County, Clinton, Oliver Springs, Roane County, and Rocky Top.

Those increases are in addition to the increases already expected because of a drop in overall property assessments in Anderson and Roane counties. The 4 percent drop in Anderson County and 3.47 percent decline in Roane County mean the tax-neutral rate—the rate meant to bring in the same amount of revenues after a reappraisal as before—goes up.

The highest tax increase, which includes a 6-cent change in the certified tax rate after five-year reappraisals, is 40 cents. That’s in Rocky Top, where the new tax rate is $2 per $100 of assessed value.

The lowest so far is in Anderson County, where county commissioners have approved a 10-cent increase for 2 percent pay raises for school and county employees. That’s in addition to the roughly 16-cent increase in the tax-neutral, or certified, tax rate.

Oak Ridge will be the last of those half-dozen governments to consider any changes to the tax-neutral rate. In Oak Ridge, the rate has been calculated at $2.52, up 13 cents from the current $2.39.

Oak Ridge could also be the only one of those half-dozen governments that doesn’t add a tax rate increase to this year’s higher tax-neutral rate. So far, it appears that a majority of Oak Ridge City Council members could support the $2.52 rate, although two Council members, Trina Baughn and Rick Chinn, have advocated for a reduction, possibly by two cents to $2.50.

Here is information on the increases or potential increases: [Read more…]

AC Commission approves 10-cent tax rate increase for pay raises

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Rachel Minardo at Anderson County Commission

Rachel Minardo, president of the Anderson County Education Association, and others have advocated for a 4 percent pay raise for county school teachers and staff. Above, Minardo talks to the 16-member Anderson County Commission in Clinton on Monday. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 4 p.m.

CLINTON—After rejecting a few other proposals, Anderson County commissioners on Monday approved a 10-cent property tax rate increase to fund 2 percent pay raises for county employees and school teachers and staff.

The vote for the tax rate increase was 9-5-1.

Eight cents of the 10-cent increase is for Anderson County Schools, and the other two cents will cover the pay raise for county employees, with the exception of elected officials and county commissioners.

Earlier in the five-hour meeting, commissioners rejected proposals to:

  • raise the property tax rate by 10 cents for a 2 percent pay raise for the schools,
  • raise the tax rate by 5 cents for a 1 percent raise,
  • approve the school budget as submitted with no tax increase,
  • raise the property tax rate by 7.5 cents for the schools, and
  • use $1.7 million from the fund balance for a one-time bonus for schools in Anderson County, Oak Ridge, and Clinton.

Teachers said they haven’t had a pay raise since 2012, and they last received a bonus in 2013 and that was $200. They have said all the surrounding school districts except Campbell County pay more, and they want to be able to recruit and retain good teachers—and not be a training ground for other districts. [Read more…]

Council to consider budget on Monday, Tuesday

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They postponed a budget vote for one week, and the Oak Ridge City Council on Monday and Tuesday will resume those discussions. So far, the debate has included calls to raise the property tax rate to fund certain programs and other recommendations to keep the rate unchanged—or even lower it.

The budget will be discussed during a non-voting work session at 5 p.m. Monday, June 15, in the Oak Ridge Municipal Building Training Room. The Council could then vote on it in the first of two readings this month during a 7 p.m. meeting in the Municipal Building Courtroom.

Council will then discuss the budget in a second work session at 6 p.m. Tuesday, June 16, in the Multipurpose Room at the Central Services Complex on Woodbury Lane. [Read more…]

Council defers budget vote to Monday, June 15

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Warren Gooch

Warren Gooch

Note: This story was updated at 8:51 a.m.

It’s still not clear how property reappraisals in Roane County will affect the Oak Ridge property tax rate, so the City Council on Monday deferred a vote on the budget until Monday, June 15.

Council had been scheduled to consider the budget in the first of two readings on Monday (June 8). Council was expected to consider the budget on second and final reading on June 15.

But the five-year property reappraisals in Roane County are not yet complete, and it’s not clear when they will be. Officials said property assessments there are likely to go down as they have in Anderson County, where they’ve fallen 4 percent.

An overall drop in property values could require an increase in the tax rate because the revenues after the reappraisals have to remain the same as they were before. [Read more…]

City, schools to present budgets to Council today

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Mark Watson

Mark Watson

Note: This story was updated at 9:23 a.m.

The municipal and school budgets will be presented to the Oak Ridge City Council during a meeting this evening (Monday, June 1).

The municipal budget will be presented by Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson. The schools budget will be presented by Oak Ridge Schools Superintendent Bruce Borchers.

The meeting starts at 7 p.m. today in the Oak Ridge Municipal Building Courtroom at 200 South Tulane Avenue. See the agenda here.

City officials have been striving to present a budget that does not include a property tax rate increase. But it wasn’t clear as of last week if that would be possible because of a dramatic drop in sales tax revenues from the Roane County portion of the city. [Read more…]

Anderson County reappraisal shows overall 4 percent drop in total assessments

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John K. Alley Jr.

John K. Alley Jr.

By Anderson County Property Assessor’s Office

The 2015 reappraisal in Anderson County shows an overall drop in total assessments.

“In the past, values have always increased,” Anderson County Property Assessor John K. Alley Jr. said. “I promised a fair and accurate assessment for Anderson County, and I feel that is what I have delivered to the property owners.”

The primary purpose of this article is to explain the reappraisal process and set the guidelines for making an appeal, if desired.

2015 is a reappraisal year for Anderson County. [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…]