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Kevin Rice running for Anderson County Commission in District 7

Posted at 8:40 am June 7, 2014
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Kevin Rice

Kevin Rice

Kevin Rice, an Oak Ridge High School graduate, is running for Anderson County Commission in District 7, which includes the Highland View, Glenwood, and Pine Valley precincts, a press release said.

Rice has served on the Anderson County Jail Committee and now serves on the Anderson County Beer Board, the press release said. He also volunteers as a Neighborhood Watch block captain and as a district leader for the Watch Group in the Jackson Square area.

Rice is a member of the Oak Ridge Quarterback Club, Football Boosters, and Oak Ridge Boys and Girls Club Alumni. He is also a member of the Anderson County Underage Drinking Task Force.

Rice said his goal as a commissioner is to cut taxes by recruiting high-tech jobs, small businesses, hotels, and tourism.

“The potential for increased tourism in the county is abundant,” Rice said. “However, added attractions would be beneficial to the city and county in many ways. Our young people, as well as our treasured senior citizens, need a variety of activities to keep Anderson County the best choice to work and live, now and in the future.” [Read more…]

Filed Under: 2014 Election, Anderson County, Government, Top Stories Tagged With: Anderson County, Anderson County Beer Board, Anderson County Commission, Anderson County Jail Committee, District 7, football boosters, Glenwood, Highland View, housing, Jackson Square, jobs, Kevin Rice, Neighborhood Watch, Oak Ridge Boys and Girls Club Alumni, Oak Ridge Quarterback Club, Pine Valley, taxes, tourism, Underage Drinking Task Force

Myra Mansfield running for County Commission in District 8

Posted at 10:52 am June 1, 2014
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Myra Mansfield

Myra Mansfield

Myra Mansfield has announced she is running to serve as an Anderson County Commissioner for District 8 in Oak Ridge. The district includes the Emory Valley, Hendrix Creek, and Woodland voting precincts.

Mansfield is a native Oak Ridger who grew up in the district where she is asking to serve, a press release said. She attended Woodland Elementary School, Jefferson Middle School, and is a graduate of Oak Ridge High School. After high school, she received an associate degree in accounting and a bachelor degree in business management. Later in life, she returned to school to receive her master’s degree while studying counseling.

The release said Mansfield has invested her adult life in business and nonprofit leadership, government and community service, parenting, writing, and public speaking. As a hobby, she has been involved in numerous multimedia projects. She loves history and historical research. Over the years, she found herself being offered a series of opportunities to use her leadership skills to bring positive transition to organizational structure, the release said. [Read more…]

Filed Under: 2014 Election, Anderson County, Government, Top Stories Tagged With: American Red Cross, Anderson County Commission, Anderson County Domestic Violence Task Force, Anderson County Drug Court, Anderson County Preschool, best practices, business management, chaplain, Choices Resource Center, Contact CareLine, cooperation, counseling, District 8, Emory Valley, Hendrix Creek, Jack Mansfield, Myra Mansfield, Oak Ridge Ministerial Association, Oak Ridge Schools, taxes, Woodland

2014 Election: Frank says she’s kept her promise; Bates wants to focus on retail, housing

Posted at 9:40 am May 5, 2014
By John Huotari 3 Comments

Terry Frank

Terry Frank

Zach Bates

Zach Bates

CLINTON—She says she’s kept her promise to protect Anderson County from higher taxes and worked to make government more efficient while improving customer service.

He says the county needs a more targeted approach to bringing in new retail and rebuilding the housing market.

The two candidates, incumbent Terry Frank and her challenger Zach Bates, face off in the Republican primary in Anderson County on Tuesday.

Frank was first elected in a special election in August 2012. She is the first female mayor of Anderson County and running for her first four-year term. She is completing the unexpired term of former mayor Rex Lynch, who resigned in January 2011.

Bates is a one-term Anderson County Commissioner who is not seeking re-election to that seat. [Read more…]

Filed Under: 2014 Election, Anderson County, Government, Top Stories Tagged With: Anderson County, Anderson County Commission, Bradley S. Rickett, debt rating, economic development, fund balance, general election, government, growth, housing, Jim Hackworth, jobs, mayor, Republican primary, reserves, retail, revenue, tax cut, taxes, Terry Frank, Zach Bates

Guest column: AC Commission needs to stay involved with mall project

Posted at 8:22 pm November 12, 2013
By Martin McBride Leave a Comment

Declining DOE Residency Hurts Anderson County

In 2003, the Anderson County Commission approved a county subsidy for a revitalization project at the Oak Ridge Mall.

Had that project succeeded, it would have generated a substantial increase in county revenue, allowing tax rates to be lowered. A successful mall project would have also helped stabilize the U.S. Department of Energy payroll gap with Knox County. Stabilizing this gap would have generated nearly $100 million more in DOE payroll for the Anderson County economy—in this year alone.

Obviously, the potential economic benefit from a successful mall project is huge.

To give the project the best chance for success, the Commission needs to couple the requested mall subsidy to four key Commission actions: [Read more…]

Filed Under: Guest Columns Tagged With: Anderson County, Anderson County Commission, county revenue, DOE, DOE payroll, DOE workforce, Knox County, Oak Ridge Mall, payroll gap, tax increment financing, tax subsidy, taxes, TIF, U.S. Department of Energy

Guest column: Trying to set the record straight on the property tax rate

Posted at 1:04 pm June 2, 2013
By Ellen Smith 14 Comments

Online comments by local citizens in response to some recent guest columns about city and county budgets and taxes have revealed some mistaken notions about the way property tax rates are established in Tennessee cities and counties. I want to set the record straight regarding a couple of misconceptions about property tax that I see being spread in recent public discussions.

On the Oak Ridge Today website, citizen Andrew Howe posted a comment saying:

“The property tax rate should NEVER have to increase. It is basically a percentage of the value of the home, right? And if the value of the home rises (as it should, in line with the cost of living), then the taxes will also rise.”

I can’t quarrel with Mr. Howe’s logic, but his conclusions are wrong. This is because he makes an assumption that is valid in many states but isn’t valid in Tennessee.

Under Tennessee law, when properties are reappraised, state officials calculate—and publicize—the property tax rate that will give the local government the same total amount of property tax that it was getting from existing properties before the reappraisal. (This calculated rate is called the “certified tax rate.”) That’s the new baseline tax rate. If a local government in Tennessee wants to get more property tax revenue after a reappraisal, the governing body has to vote to increase the tax rate above the certified rate. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Guest Columns Tagged With: Anderson County, appraisal, certified tax rate, city budget, county budget, Ellen Smith, Oak Ridge, property tax collections, property tax increases, property tax rate, property tax rates, property tax revenues, property values, reappraisal, tax bills, taxes, Tennessee

Guest column: Do our competitors ‘hammer us’ on property tax rates?

Posted at 1:50 pm May 28, 2013
By Myron Iwanski 39 Comments

Myron Iwanski

Myron Iwanski

I agree with Martin McBride that Oak Ridge is a great place to live. However, I do not agree with his statement in recent columns that high property taxes are the reason Anderson County’s and Oak Ridge’s populations are not growing as fast as those in some area counties.

The following information from county and city audit reports and websites, the University of Tennessee County Technical Advisory Service, and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics website help make my point. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Guest Columns Tagged With: Anderson County, Anderson County Commission, Consumer Price Index, CPI, full-service city, growth, homeowner, Martin McBride, Myron Iwanski, Oak Ridge, population growth, property tax rates, property taxes, services, tax rate increases, taxes, wheel taxes

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

Posted at 11:55 pm May 12, 2013
By John Huotari 3 Comments

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…]

Filed Under: Business, Government, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge, Top Stories Tagged With: budget, economic development, funding, Mark Watson, Oak Ridge Board of Education, Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce, Oak Ridge City Council, Oak Ridge Convention and Visitors Bureau, Oak Ridge Schools, Parker Hardy, pay raise, property tax rate, property taxes, Stephen Whitson, taxes

Anderson County officials discuss budget Monday evening

Posted at 5:27 pm May 5, 2013
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Terry Frank

Terry Frank

Spending requests have exceeded expected revenues by more than $4 million, mostly because of a proposal to hire more jailers, and Anderson County officials will discuss the budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1 during a Monday evening workshop.

Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank and Budget Director Chris Phillips have said they plan to present a balanced budget that does not raise taxes but still provides core services.

County officials have said projected revenues are down slightly, or about 98 percent of what they are in the current fiscal year. There has been a slight increase in property assessments, but sales and business tax revenues are projected to be down. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Anderson County, Government, Top Stories Tagged With: Anderson County, Anderson County Budget Committee, Anderson County Commission, Anderson County Sheriff's Department, budget, Chris Phillips, health insurance, jail, jailers, revenues, school budget, spending, tax revenues, taxes, Terry Frank

Possible TVA sale a bad idea, president’s budget fails on entitlements, Republican lawmakers say

Posted at 4:45 pm April 10, 2013
By John Huotari 2 Comments

U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander

Lamar Alexander

U.S. Senator Bob Corker

Bob Corker

Republican lawmakers from Tennessee were critical of the budget proposal released by President Barack Obama on Wednesday, saying it was overdue and failed to responsibly address unsustainable spending on entitlement programs.

In a statement, U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander said a proposal to consider selling the Tennessee Valley Authority could cost taxpayers money.

“This is one more bad idea in a budget full of bad ideas,” Alexander said. “There is today no federal taxpayer subsidy for TVA, period. There is by law no federal taxpayer liability for TVA debt. And after deducting its debt, selling TVA would probably cost taxpayers money.” [Read more…]

Filed Under: Federal, Government, Top Stories Tagged With: Barack Obama, Bob Corker, budget, Chuck Fleischmann, Congress, debt, entitlement programs, fiscal year, Lamar Alexander, reform, spending, taxes, Tennessee Valley Authority, TVA

Alexander, Fleischmann release statements on State of the Union

Posted at 12:10 am February 13, 2013
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander

U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander

U.S. Representative Chuck Fleischmann

U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann

In his State of the Union speech on Tuesday, President Barack Obama called for raising the minimum wage, doing more to fight global warming, and reducing the deficit through spending cuts and tax increases.

The president also called for voting on new gun laws, reforming Medicare and the tax code, and working with states to make high-quality preschool available to every child.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Federal, Government, Top Stories Tagged With: Barack Obama, Chuck Fleischmann, debt, deficit, entitlement spending, global warming, gun laws, Lamar Alexander, Medicare, minimum wage, preschool, State of the Union, tax code, taxes

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

Posted at 5:06 pm January 26, 2013
By Oak Ridge Today Guest Columns 4 Comments

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.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Guest Columns Tagged With: accountability, budget, contracts, deliverable, expenditures, marketing, Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce, Oak Ridge City Council, Oak Ridge Convention and Visitors Bureau, public dollars, taxes

House also passes ‘fiscal cliff’ deal, but Tennessee representatives oppose it

Posted at 11:56 pm January 1, 2013
By John Huotari 4 Comments

U.S. Representative Chuck Fleischmann

Chuck Fleischmann

Less than 24 hours after the U.S. Senate overwhelmingly approved it, the U.S. House passed legislation late Tuesday night to avoid the so-called “fiscal cliff,” but seven Tennessee Republicans and one Democrat opposed it.

The bill, which now goes to President Barack Obama for his signature, averts income tax increases for most Americans and temporarily delays large across-the-board spending cuts to defense and domestic programs.

However, the Associated Press reported most Americans will still end up paying more federal taxes in 2013 because the legislation did not renew a temporary 2 percent cut in the payroll tax. That reduction was worth about $1,000 to a worker making $50,000 a year.

U.S. senators Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker, both Tennessee Republicans, voted for the bill in the Senate, where it passed 89-8 early Tuesday morning. Alexander and Corker said the legislation, reached after weeks of negotiations between the White House and Congress, “rescues” 99 percent of Americans from a tax rate increase.

But all seven Tennessee Republicans in the U.S. House, including Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, voted against it. The vote in the House was 257-167.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Federal, Government, Top Stories Tagged With: Bob Corker, Chuck Fleischmann, Congress, entitlement reform, federal facilities, fiscal cliff, Lamar Alexander, National Nuclear Security Administration, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, President Barack Obama, sequestration, spending cuts, tax increases, taxes, Tennessee Republicans, Thom Mason, U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. House, U.S. Senate, White House

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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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