'Lunch with Mayor' continues Friday

Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett will continue his quest to chow down with every single resident this Friday when hosts his monthly "Lunch with the Mayor" gig, this time at Kitts Cafe from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The restaurant is located at 4620 Greenway Drive, across from the Joann's in the Target Shopping Center on Washington Pike. The "special" will include a free dessert with a plate lunch order.

And no, the mayor is not paying for your lunch.

That said, feel free to show up and gripe, commend or just plain hang out.

'Casual' county coin report Part V

Finance Director Chris Caldwell

Head Knox County Bean County Chris “Casual” Caldwell kicked off today's coin report, letting commissioners know that the county's general fund is on pace to wrap up the fiscal year with a $6 million to $12 million surplus.

In addition, he said schools are currently on pace to end the year with a $10 million to $12 million surplus.

The fiscal year ends June 30, but the county still has to wait on numbers, so folks won't officially close the books until – more than likely – late August or early September.

At that time, expect the County Commission to go on a spending spree. Probably the school system, too.

Heh.

During his report, Caldwell noted that sales tax revenues are currently trending up by about $202,000 for the general fund compared to this time last year; and $1.3 million for the general purpose school fund.

He also noted that the pot of folding paper for the Engineering and Public Works bucket is $323,000 in the positive, although he noted that gasoline tax revenues are down.

He said “we have already beat property tax collection (as of this time) last year,” but numbers for delinquent taxes are down.

“We'll probably see some flattening of that, but it's OK, we'll just have to budget for it,” he told the commission during its monthly luncheon, in which no one ate.

I can't remember what he said about the hotel/motel fund, but did note that “we had a bad April.” More recent numbers, however, should raise the trend, he said.

Caldwell added that wheel tax collections are up $120,000 this time compared to last year, but behind FY 2011 numbers.

The Casual One also said that probate and chancery court collections are up about $133,000, but February was a bad month. He said that Criminal Court collections are down $228,000, and Circuit/Juvenile Court collections dropped by about $90,000.

Knox budget meetings on for next week

Next Wednesday, Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett will unveil his proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year, which begins July 1.

As he has in the past, the mayor will then take a quick tour of the county Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, hitting a number of library branches and senior centers.

The meetings, which are open to the public, will last about an hour.

The first meeting will be before the County Commission in the Main Assembly Room of the City County Building.

Click right smack here for the schedule. (Note that the O'Connor Senior Center presentation is actually in the morning, not the evening.)

A few weigh in on term limit plan

Heard back from a couple of folks regarding today's story about Knox County Commission Mike Brown's call for school board term limits.

Board of Ed member Pam Trainor, who also represents the county's southern district with Brown, said a resident asked about her thoughts.

She said:

“I really don't see a problem with term limits for any elected body, personally. However, I do find it odd that "my" commissioner hasn't seen a school board member in his district for more than a normal "term limited term" in probably twenty or more years...since the days of Mildred Doyle.

Pam Trainor

It is also of note....that we are not now, nor have we ever been, a subset of County Commission, as my commissioner would like to believe. We exist by State Constitution .... not County Charter. Meaning that, it would take a change to the state constitution in order to enact term limits for us. That might ruffle a few state legislator feathers, because it could directly effect them, as well. It is also somewhat strange that he raises this issue post session. And his math is extremely fuzzy.... He says "we have twice as much responsibility to the people of Knox county, because we are in charge of twice as much money, as the commission is. That doesn't add up.

Knox County Schools is approx 60 percent of the county's budget. Not to mention....we have NO budget unless approved by commission, nor does the mayor. So the the way I see it they are in COMPLETE control of the county's monies.

And as a taxpayer myself....and a South Knoxville citizen, that is watching in real time, it's main corridor of Chapman Hwy die an exhausting death, I would hope that my commissioner could find more productive ways to occupy his time."

Phil Guthe

Next up, I got a note from former county Commissioner Phil Guthe. (Always good to hear from him by the way.)

Phil asked whether the commissioners were serious.

Then added: “The issue was decided January 12, 2007. Tell these folks to read my book. I'll gift a signed copy if they'll contact me. They are wasting time and resources even threatening to talk about term limits in public.”

Sweet. As always, you can find Phil's book “Term Limits” right smack here. I also wrote a story about it, right here.

Pi Alpha Alpha to honor John Troyer

Former county Finance Director John Troyer

The University of Tennessee's Political Science Scholastic Honor Society (Pi Alpha Alpha) in conjunction with the East Tennessee Chapter of the American Society for Public Administration will honor former Knox County Finance Director John Troyer as its “Public Administrator of the Year.”

The ceremony will take place at 11:30 a.m. today in the Toyota Room of the Howard Baker Center.

Troyer left last spring to take a job with the city of Alcoa to serve as its finance director. At the time he said it was a lower-profile position and he didn't have to deal with the media as much. Also, city government is more straightforward.

Former county Mayor Mike Ragsdale tapped Troyer to serve as head county bean counter after then-finance director John Werner resigned in July 2007 amid a furor over the improper use of purchasing cards by employees in the mayor's office.

Before that, Troyer, a certified public accountant, served as the county comptroller for six years. He also worked as a finance director for the city of Bartlett, Tenn., and for Blount County.

Clarity sought about counsel question

Yesterday, KNS reporter Lydia X. McCoy wrote a story about the Knox County school board seeking clarity on legal representation, right smack here.

In it, she asks whether the school board can hire counsel outside the county's law department, cause apparently there's some bickering going on. Hey, it ain't KC government if there isn't at least a little squabbling.

Anyhoo, read her story.

And you can read the email from county Law Director Richard “Bud” Armstrong to school board Chairwoman Karen Carson, right smack here.

Family 'creek' event set for May 18

The county and the Beaver Creek Task Force will host "Families in the Creek," some kind of educational thing for folks to explore a local creek or something, according to Michael "Big Sexy" Grider's new staffer, Jennifer "da Kid" Linginfelter.

The event doesn't take place until May 18, so I'm betting that Mrs. Linginfelter will flood my email inbox with such reminders. Anyhoo, it runs from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Halls Greenway. County Mayor Tim "Bigfoot" Burchett plans to attend.

The shindig is free, but limited to the first 40 people who register. Children must be age 7 or older to hang out. Equipment, waders and lunch will be provided.

You can read the whole spin thing right smack here.

Flea market talk set for luncheon

The agenda for the Knox County Commission luncheon was just released. Got a couple things on it (but no menu). Head bean counter Chris "casual" Caldwell will talk about the comings and goings of the county's coin. Should be interesting. Not.

The county's public works and engineering department also will give a presentation, although it doesn't say what officials will discuss.

Finally, the commission will talk about a code tied to "peddlers and solicitors." Man, I forgot about that one. Seems to come up every couple of years. Heck, I don't even remember what the commission did last time the board talked about it.

Probably tabled it to form a study committee or something.

Whatever. The luncheon will be held at 11:30 a.m. Monday. And no, you can't have any food.

Belle Morris done? Frith leaving

Couple of notes from today's election commission meeting.

Last year some folks got upset after the election commission in a 4-0 vote agreed to close the precinct at Belle Morris Elementary School and move voters to the nearby Larry Cox Senior Center.

At the time, elections administrator Clifford Rodgers said the center was easier for people with disabilities to use and that it had more parking.

Many Democrats disagreed and some said the move smacked of partisan politics, since it was the largest Democratic precinct inside the city. A lot of huffing and puffing followed and folks ignored the fact that one Democrat on the election commission actually voted to close the precinct and the other one didn't bother to show up at the meeting.

Eventually, everyone agreed that they might talk more about it early this year.

Well, no one – Democrat or Republican – brought it up this morning.

So, guess it was all a bunch of nothing, unless someone shows up at one of these meetings to complain.

After the meeting Rodgers said his office “did not get one call from any disgruntled voters about” the move after the August primary.

“(Larry Cox) is one of the finest voting facilities in Knox County and it has plenty of parking,” he said. “Also, I don't like voting in schools if we have something else nearby.”

Other item of note:

Rodgers announced that Scott Frith, the county's assistant administrator of elections, has resigned, effective May 17, the day before he graduates law school. Rodgers called Frith an “invaluable part of my team . . . and a trusted adviser and friend.” Rodgers said he would begin taking applications for the position soon.

It pays $65,000 a year, so expect a bunch of knuckleheads to turn out, thinking they got a shot at some easy money.

Rodgers reappointed to election post

Clifford Rodgers

The Knox County Election Commission this morning unanimously reappointed Clifford Rodgers to serve another two-year term as the county's administrator of elections.

In the upcoming fiscal year, which begins in July, he'll be in charge of a $1.64 million budget and oversee two city elections and a county primary.

A Knoxville native, Rodgers was initially appointed to the board in April 2011 amidst a series of controversies and is credited with “righting a ship that was listing a bit,” according to Knox County Election Commission Chairman Chris Heagerty.

Before that he practiced civil law, primarily focusing on state and federal litigation. And from 1984 through the end of 2007, he worked as a law clerk, researching and writing opinions for the late Senior U.S. District Judge James Jarvis as well as Chief U.S. District Judge Curtis L. Collier.

He also oversaw administrative duties for Jarvis - setting the docket, meeting with lawyers and talking to the press and public.

Rodgers, who earned his law degree from the University of Tennessee College of Law, will make $112,420 annually.

Property appeals can start Wednesday

Phil Ballard

The Knox County Property Assessor' Office at 8 a.m. tomorrow is expected to post online the results from the latest reappraisal.

In addition, the department will begin looking into informal appeals, which property owners can also begin filing in the morning.

County Property Assessor Phil Ballard said the new values will be available on his department's website, right smack here.

He said those who question the values can appeal online or call (865) 215-2006. He said folks also can appeal in person at offices in either New Harvest Park, downtown or the Cedar Bluff library. More instructions will be on the printed notices, which will go out within a day or two.

The informal appeals process runs through May 3. The county's Board of Equalization will then hear appeals throughout June.

State law requires the assessor’s office to estimate a value for each of the 193,437 real parcels in Knox County.

Property is then taxed on the basis of its assessed value, which — for residential property — is equal to 25 percent of the appraised value. In Knox County, the current property tax rate is $2.36 per $100 of assessed value.

However, the reappraisal, which takes place very four years, must be revenue-neutral.

Ballard said overall values for all assessed property, including residential, commercial and agricultural – not counting new construction – rose 2.86 percent. That means, the Knox County Commission will more than likely roll back the value to $2.29, or it must conduct public hearings before adopting a higher tax rate.

Four years ago, reappraisal sparked an outcry from property owners after residential appraisals rose by an average of 15.8 percent from 2005 to 2009. Many felt the appraisals were too high given the ongoing national recession, which was driven, in part by falling property values.

First ever SouthFest kicks off today

So, today's the day Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett kicks off his biggest cash mob yet: Southfest, a two-day event along Chapman Highway, just south of the Henley Street Bridge.

Check out the cool map that the county put together. Right smack here. They'll also be available at the event.

(Personally, I hope this because an annual thing and grows each year to the point of backed-up traffic, heavy partying and general craziness.)

Free public parking will be available at the Tennova garage on Blount Avnue, across from the former Baptist Hospital. There is a shuttle stop there, so people can park and ride, according to county communications Manager Big “Michael Grider” Sexy.

You can find out more about times and events right smack here.