May 10, 2011 Danny Thomas, Chris Bivens, Paul LeBel, and Claude Jinks Are Sworn In

The City of Morristown has three new faces. See previous post.

Pictured at left are the new Mayor and five of the six Councilmembers: Front Row (L-R)Councilmembers Kay Senter and Claude Jinks. Back Row (L-R) Councilmember Chris Bivens, Mayor Danny Thomas, Councilmember Gene Brooks, and Councilmember Paul LeBel. Not pictured is Bob Garrett who did not attend the council meeting/swearing-in ceremony.

Danny Thomas took the oath of office as the City's new Mayor yesterday before a packed city chamber room. [Thomas defeated 8-year councilmember Frank McGuffin in the May 3 mayoral contest.]

Chris Bivens and Paul LeBel were also sworn in as new councilmembers.  [Bivens handily defeated longtime councilmember Doc Rooney, and Paul LeBel won his seat with a narrow 24-vote victory in a 4-man race for the at-large seat]

Claude Jinks, who had no opposition in his council race, was the only incumbent to retain his seat on the City Council.

Before the swearing-in ceremony, the prior Mayor and Council met and certified the election results.

Retired Judge Eddie Beckner then swore in the new Mayor and Councilmembers.

Outgoing Mayor Barile graciously handed over the Mayoral office to Danny Thomas.

Outgoing councilmember Doc Rooney graciously handed over the 2nd ward council seat to his successor Chris Bivens. 

Unsuccessful mayoral candidate and outgoing at-large councilmember Frank McGuffin was not present for his last meeting and did not see Paul LeBel sworn in to the at-large seat that McGuffin held for eight years.

Councilmember Bob Garrett also did not attend the meeting or the swearing-in ceremony.

City Administrator Tony Cox congratulated outgoing Mayor Barile and outgoing Councilmember Doc Rooney and gave them a token of appreciation from the City for their years of service. McGuffin wasn't there to receive Cox's congratulations or token of appreciation.

[Councilmembers Brooks, Garrett, and Senter were not up for re-election]

February 22, 2011 How Did Morristown College Grant Money End Up With the Millennium Group?

Just how did $1.2 Million in federal grant dollars get moved from needed work at and around Morristown College to the downtown Millennium Partners retail shell space/rooftop parking project?  [This is a follow-up from yesterday's post on conflicts of interest in the Millennium grant process.]

In 2005-2006, federal grant funds of $1,200,000 were received and were to be matched with local funds in a public-private partnership at Morristown College. The goal was preservation of the many historic buildings on the College property along with construction of a Community Center and pools, etc.

Ironically, Todd Morgan, who has been pushing the Millennium project, nominated Morristown College for inclusion in East Tennessee's Endangered Heritage just weeks before Morgan put a plan before the City Council to move the Morristown College grant funds to benefit the Millennium group.

Click here for a post on Morgan's nomination of Morristown College for inclusion on a list of endangered historic buildings and here for a picture of the Laura Yard Hill Administration Building and the full News-Sentinel story.

When the public-private partnership fell through, Mayor Barile signed a contract with TDOT in 2007 changing the scope of the Morristown College grant to construction of a greenway connector trail into the Morristown College site and a trailhead at the Fred Kyle Park with parking spaces.

The new scope also included a perimeter walking path around the College site and 2-1/2 miles of sidewalks with street lights and curbs on parts of Branner Street, Blair Street, Buffalo Trail, Carriger Street, Panorama Drive, E. 6th North, James Street/Daisy Street, Terrace View, and Morristown Cemetery Trail. Drainage problems would also be addressed.

The purpose of revising the plans for Morristown College, as stated by Mayor Barile in her letter to TDOT in 2007, was: "[T]o increase the safety and well-being of the people that live in this area."

After signing the 2007 contract with TDOT,  the City sat on the grant and did nothing. Why? The City was broke and couldn't come up with the local match to access the $1,200,000 of federal funds. Former City Administrator Jim Crumley was hiding a financial mess, and the Mayor and Council either didn't know why the grant work was not starting or did know but were concerned that it all reflected badly on the City, Mayor, and Council.  The Morristown College site continued to deteriorate. 

Mayor Barile, who signed the 2007 grant contract for Morristown College and spoke of the health and safety of area residents, didn't have a clue. According to the Mayor, she didn't know until early 2010 that the City was broke. Click here for the day the Mayor and Council woke up to the financial nightmare that she and the Council have presided over.

Instead of taking care of the city's finances and using the grant funds for the preservation and improvement of the Morristown College site, Mayor Barile and Council spent time and money stamping brick designs on roadways, placing islands in the middle of East First North (that have now been removed), and wailing about "light pollution." 

Morristown College was slowly falling apart. And the City's answer to the deterioration was to take the $1,200,000 of federal grant money that could have been used to preserve and improve the Morristown College site and transfer all that money to the downtown Millennium Square Partnership group, composed of local businessmen and the City's auditors.

Some of the most beautiful buildings at Morristown College have now burned. The historic area continues to deteriorate.  Residents of the area have asked for help as property values decrease and concerns for safety increase. They may get the City to mow the area and do some clean-up.

But the money that was available for the Morristown College area from as far back as 2005 was transferred to downtown businessmen (Millennium Partners) for a project where the City ends up with a 25-year lease for 22 rooftop parking spaces, a bike rack, a stairway, and a sign designating the rooftop parking as a greenways "trailhead."

$1,200,000 for safety, historical preservation, parking, sidewalks, lights, and curbs, OR 22 rooftop parking spaces? The City chose 22 rooftop parking spaces.

December 5, 2010 How's That City of Morristown Garbage Fee Working Out For City Residents?

We're going on 4 months now, and the City of Morristown continues to bill its new $10/month garbage fee to some city residents but not to others.

Failure to bill is no problem if you are one of the unbilled city residents.

Failure to bill is very unfair, however, if you are getting a bill and paying for a city service (garbage pick-up) while the City has not sent a single bill to other city residents.

Graciously, the City has said that it doesn't intend to go back and bill the "unbilled" for the four months (as of now) of free garbage service. That's certainly fair to the unbilled. 

But what's fair to those who have been paying for four months already?  The City needs to stop billing the City residents who have already been billed for four months of garbage pick-up until all city residents have been billed an equal number of months. That's fair and equitable to ALL city residents.

The whole garbage fee and garbage billing fiasco are classic examples of government mismanagement at its best. City leaders should have taken care of the financial mess they created without inventing a new way to take money out of  the wallets of the already suffering citizenry. But that's not the way things operate in the City "Taj Mahal" Center or in most any government building.

Instead of being accountable and trying to save money,  Mayor Barile and company just increased property taxes, increased sales taxes through a "pick-your-poison" sales tax referendum, put in red light cameras, illegally transferred/loaned money from one fund to the other, and then tacked on a garbage fee for a city service that had always been provided through tax payments until new City Administrator Tony Cox arrived.

Bobby Moore, who writes press releases in the "news"paper for the City of Morrist, oops, who writes "news" for the Citizen Tribune, recently ran a second article on December 2, 2010, trying to explain the City's failure to bill some city residents (those city residents who receive water from Alpha-Talbott, Witt, and Russellville-Whitesburg Utility Districts) while going on and billing others (those city residents who receive water from MUS).

In his most recent opus, Bobby explains that the City has now (November 29) sent garbage fee billing lists to the three surrounding utility districts and has asked the utilities to include Morristown's garbage fee on the utility's water bills. 

Bobby adds that the utility districts "could begin collecting Morristown's...$10/month garbage fee at the end of December."  Actually, it's the billings that "could" go out in December (or not) but the collection of any money by the utility districts can't take place until January 2011 at the earliest. And even that is not a sure thing.

When Bobby Moore was doing his first CMA (Cover Morristown's rear-end) article on November 18, he reported that the failure to bill all city residents stemmed from "billing difficulties" with the Utility Districts. For some reason, Bobby failed to explain then that actually the City hadn't even sent a billing list to the Utility Districts. 

I guess you could term not providing a list of city residents to the utility districts and not authorizing them to include Morristown garbage bills on the utility's water bills a "billing difficulty," but those certainly aren't billing difficulties created by the districts.

On November 24, I pointed out that the "billing difficulties" with the utility districts were that the City had not authorized the utility districts to bill the fee. Click here.  Now Bobby reports pretty much the same thing and adds that the City has finally given each utility a list of garbage fee customers and has asked/authorized the utility districts to send out garbage bills. 

Now that the City has given the Utility Districts a billing list and the go-ahead to bill, other problems have come out.  At least one utility, RV-WB, doesn't have software with the capability of handling yet another billing task for the City of Morristown. [RV-WB already bills its customers for RV-WB water and includes Morristown sewer and Morristown stormwater charges on the bills that go to Morristown residents.]

The RV-WB utility board will meet toward the end of December and vote on Morristown's request that RV-WB include yet another Morristown fee on RV-WB water bills. 

Since most customers look at their water bill as a lump sum, adding the $10/month Morristown garbage fee to RV-WB water bills may inadvertently create ill-will toward RV-WB, the billing agent, instead of ill-will toward the real culprit, the City of Morristown.

Watch for that RV-WB vote. Morristown power players will be applying behind-the-scenes pressure on RV-WB to go on and handle the Morristown garbage billings and not rock the boat.   We'll see if TPTB can apply enough pressure to get another utility to take flak for Morristown's financial failings and continued lack of accountability.

November 21, 2010 The Lowland "Asset Purchase Agreement" (15- Page Contract)

 

Above this post is Page 1 and following are Pages 2-15 of the Lowland "Asset Purchase Agreement" that was negotiated by former City Administrator Jim Crumley and that was approved by the previous City Council in a 5-1 vote in February 2009. Voting YES: Mayor Barile, Claude Jinks, Frank McGuffin, Doc Rooney,and Kay Senter. Voting NO: Rick Trent. Click on each page to enlarge and read or to print the page. 

When two new councilmen were elected in May 2009, one of them--Gene Brooks--spearheaded the initiative to terminate Crumley who "retired" in the face of termination proceedings. This was probably the most important action of the new council. Everything else has been like peeling an onion as the true magnitude of Crumley's financial shenanigans have gradually come out layer by layer. 

After addressing the Crumley matter, Brooks turned to another major concern and campaign platform-- the Lowland Wastewater deal with MPLG (Mike Ball and Joe Fielden). After new City Administrator Tony Cox was in place, Brooks told Cox of his concerns about the Lowland purchase and requested copies of all Lowland documents. Brooks reviewed the documents, showed them to several people, and continued to have serious concerns not only about the Lowland Agreement but also other financial issues. 

Since the State Comptroller was already looking at city financial actions, Brooks went to Nashville to discuss his concerns about the Lowland Agreenent, illegal interfund "loans," and other financial questions directly with the Comptroller's Division of State and Local Finance. Carl Murphy and I accompanied Brooks. (Carl is Gene's father-in-law.) Shortly after that meeting, the Comptroller's Office sent a letter to the City in July 2010, pointing out discrepancies in the 2009 audit, raising questions about illegal interfund "loans," and perhaps most importantly raising serious questions about the Lowland Wastewater Plant Agreement. Click here to see the Comptroller's 5-page July 8, 2010, letter. Click here for a very brief discussion of just a few of the questions that surround the terms of the Lowland Agreement and its approval.  

October 20, 2010 Morristown Budget Mess: $116,000 Due for 2010 Appraisal Costs But ZERO Is in the Budget To Pay This

During the City Council work session yesterday, another city budget shoe dropped, putting the City Administrator, Mayor Barile, and Council in a pickle as they try to find $116,000 to pay for the 2010 re-appraisal costs!! 

The Hamblen County Assessor completed re-appraisal of all property in the City and County in early 2010. On July 30, 2010, Hamblen County billed the City of Morristown $116,000+ for the city's share of the re-appraisal costs. Yesterday, the City Council was told that the City budget that they passed in June 2010 contained exactly ZERO to pay this bill.

No one asked and no one offered an explanation as to why City Administrator Tony Cox and (former) Budget Director Brian Janish put ZERO in the 2010-2011 budget to pay for 2010 re-appraisal costs. No one asked why there was a delay of nearly three months (late July to mid-October) in bringing a bill for unbudgeted costs of $116,000 to council's attention!

Tony Cox was not at yesterday's meeting. He apparently took or was getting ready to take a trip to  California to attend a meeting. Hopefully, it is a meeting that tells City Administrators how to make unbudgeted bills go away! In fairness to Cox, he came here from Virginia in early 2010--maybe he didn't understand, didn't ask, and wasn't told that the City would get a bill from the County for the re-appraisal costs.

Everyone else involved in the budget process, however, knows how the re-appraisal process goes. Budget Director Brian Janish was around during the last appraisal cycle in 2005 and knew that the City would get a bill. Of course, Janish was not at yesterday's meeting. He resigned or was "let go" by the City a few months ago, taking his vacation days and officially leaving in August after coming under fire for harassing Finance head Dynise Robertson and for numerous budgeting errors through the years.

Buddy Fielder, assistant City Administrator, was present yesterday but said nothing about the failure to include re-appraisal costs in the budget. His major "job" seems to revolve around the local airport.

According to Finance head Dynise Robertson, failing to budget for re-appraisal costs is not exactly new around here. Former City Administrator Jim Crumley and his buddy Brian Janish apparently didn't put anything in previous budgets to pay for the 2005 re-appraisal costs.  Robertson said that when the bill for the 2005 re-appraisal costs came in, Crumley just miraculously "found" money to pay the bill in the Finance Department's budget. Of course, Crumley was always finding money or shifting money around and making illegal transfers between funds.

The Mayor, City Council, and City Administrator Tony Cox may have trouble  "finding" $116,000 to pay for the re-appraisal in the current budget. To make it easier, I know where some money--maybe as much as $80,000--can be "found" in the current budget.  Take $30,000 from the City Administrator's new slush/contingency fund (or whatever is left in that line item) and take approximately $50,000 from the Council's new $100,000 slush/contingency fund (or whatever is left in that line item) and put that money toward the City's re-appraisal bill. 

Then eliminate retreats and travel by the Administrator, Mayor, and Council for the rest of the year and apply that to the bill, too. These are the people who forgot to budget anything to pay the re-appraisal bill, so most or all of the money to pay for the re-appraisal ought to come out of their budget before they make other departments pay for their mistake.

MORE BACKGROUND: Re-appraisals in Hamblen County generally take place every five years. The previous re-appraisal year was 2005.  Back then, Hamblen County billed the City for its share of the 2005 re-appraisal costs (approximately $71,000) just like Hamblen County billed the City for 2010 re-appraisal costs ($116,000). If it's a re-appraisal year, everyone at the City knows this and knows that a bill will be coming! Yesterday, no one could explain why ZERO is budgeted to pay this bill.

Election years present the same situation. In election years, Hamblen County pays the election costs and bills the City for the costs of the City election. The City knows which years are election years and the City DOES put money in the budget to pay those costs. 

Why do you budget for elections in election years, but you don't budget for re-appraisals in re-appraisal years?

September 10, 2010 Mayor Barile: Do As I Say, Not As I Do

If a picture is worth a thousand words, these two pictures must be worth two thousand words.

DO AS I SAY.
Mayor Barile and Chamber of Commerce: Spend your money and sales tax dollars in Morristown! Click to enlarge and read the banner: Buy Local.  Shop Chamber

NOT AS I DO
Everybody goes out of town on personal business or to shop or eat from time to time. But it is offensive and insulting to the citizens and taxpayers of Morristown when Mayor Barile, five of the six Councilmembers, and City Administrator Tony Cox travel to JOHNSON CITY and spend their own money AND City taxpayer dollars at a 2-day "City retreat" in a luxurious JOHNSON CITY HOTEL.  The City Chambers at the Morristown City Center are not shabby and are free for council use, but the Mayor and five Councilmembers decided they would spend some taxpayer money to help them get away from MORRISTOWN and Morristown taxpayers and go to JOHNSON CITY on August 27-28 for their discussions of CITY OF MORRISTOWN finances, sewer problems, and other issues. Councilman Gene Brooks did not participate in the JOHNSON CITY retreat.

Click here to see pictures of Mayor Barile, City Administrator Tony Cox, and Councilmembers Bob Garrett, Claude Jinks, Frank McGuffin, Doc Rooney, and Kay Senter discussing CITY OF MORRISTOWN business while spending City of Morristown taxpayer dollars on food and a "conference room" at the luxurious and pricey Carnegie Hotel in JOHNSON CITY.

September 6, 2010 The State Comptroller Requests Explanations from the City and the City Auditors about Violations of State Law and Problems with 2009 Audit

The above letter to the Mayor and City Council from the State Comptroller's Office was one item briefly discussed at the Council's August 2010 "retreat" in Johnson City. Audits and cozy auditors and conflicts of interest.

I have maintained for a long time that the City of Morristown should get a fresh set of auditing eyes to perform its annual audits. This 5-page letter (click each page to enlarge, read, or print out) from the State Comptroller's Office provides more proof that new eyes are needed. In addition, the GFOA reommends that auditors be changed periodically as a "best practice."

In the 2009 City audit, the Comptroller points out that certain figures don't match up. Lowland Wastewater debt was taken on for 25 years without approval from the Comptroller's Division of State and Local Finance. MUS loans to the telecom fibernet system were also apparently not approved in advance by the Division of State and Local Finance.

Lots of problems with reporting requirements and reported amounts that don't agree. Improper categories. Grant reporting is questioned.

Notes to the financial statements did not include or had incomplete disclosures. And on and on.

There may be explanations for some of the questioned items and some may be the result of mistakes. But there is no doubt that the auditors knew or should have known that "loans" from one fund to another required city council AND state approval. There is no doubt that the auditors knew in recent years that the City was in poor financial shape but failed to call specific attention to this.

Apparently, the auditors thought that if the City could figure it out, OK.  And if the City didn't bother to look at the audits (which is what happened) or couldn't figure it out, then the auditors could say "No, I didn't point out that you were broke or making illegal loans/transfers, but it was in the audit." Sort of like your doctor giving you a blood test and handing you the results to figure out for yourself--even though he knows that you have a specific disease that needs immediate treatment.

Besides the quality and accuracy of the 2009 audit and the failure of the local auditors to disclose the illegal loans and transfers and switching of money, one has to consider the coziness of the auditors (Craine, Thompson & Jones) with the entity (City of Morristown) that they are auditing.

The auditors are local businessmen who have failed repeatedly in recent audits to report that the City was violating state law in swapping/loaning money from fund to fund without a vote from City Council and without obtaining the required approval of the Comptroller's Division of State and Local Finance. The state is pointing out numerous problems by just looking at the 2009 audit. There is no telling what a true detailed examination of the city's books for the year 2009 (Former City Adm. Jim Crumley's last full year) would show or what a thorough look at prior audits would show.

The current auditors (Craine, Thompson & Jones) have been the city's sole auditing firm for about three decades. The local auditors claim that they perform an "independent" audit of the City. However, the fact that the auditors are local business people who have very strong social and economic ties to the same organizations, clubs, churches, sports groups, business groups (Chamber and Industrial Board), and schools as do the individuals (City Administrator, Mayor, City  Council) who represent the City of Morristown creates an  obvious "independence" problem. It may be an "independent" audit from the auditors' technical  perspective, but ethically and in a world of common sense, it's not "independent."  The auditors are aware of "independence" questions, and but they have atempted to explain away their involvement and knowledge of illegal loans/transfers between funds, putting all blame on Crumley AFTER Crumley was fired. Click here to see a copy of the auditor's e-mail message sent to Interim Administrator Lynn Wampler many months AFTER Crumley was fired.

It's not bad that the auditors belong to the same groups and organizations as do Morristown city officials. However, true auditing "independence" is questionable when strong social and economic ties exist between auditor and auditee and when the auditors have already been shown to have failed to call attention to violations of state law by the City and dire financial problems in City government.

Another new "independence" problem has arisen recently because members of the auditing firm apparently have about a 1/3 interest in an entity (Millennium Square Partners) that is receiving $890,000 from the City through a grant. Who/what auditor is going to bite the hand that is feeding it $890,000? Who/what auditor is going to point out the poor financial status of the City or violations of state law by the very people (City officials) who have just given you $890,000? In next year's City audit (FY 2011), the auditors will be auditing their own $890,000 grant!

This potential conflict of the auditors as recipient of an $890,000 grant was discussed briefly when the City was voting on whether to hire new auditors or renew its audit contract with Craine, Thompson & Jones. One of the local auditors who was present at that meeting, Tom Jones, told the City Council that there was no conflict and that the auditors only had a very small interest in Millennium Square Partnership.  Apparently, however, members of the auditing firm have as large an interest as anyone else (David and Tim Wild) in the Millennium Partnership and have a larger interest than the other two remaining members of the Millennium Partnership--Dr. Sidney Boyd and William (Bill) Young).

I guess it all depends on what the meaning of a "small interest" is and it all depends on the meaning/ interpretation of true auditor "independence."

The City needs fresh eyes looking at its financial reports. The current auditors have contributed directly or indirectly to continual violations of state law by their failure to report violations and by their willingness to let these violations slide by.  The City needs to follow accounting best practices, hire outside auditors, and then rotate auditors at least every five years.

August 31, 2010 Mayor Barile and Five of the Six City Councilmembers Meet in JOHNSON CITY To Discuss Morristown Finances, Beautification, Sewer, Increasing Revenue (Taxes, Fees, etc)

Mayor Barile and five of the six City Councilmembers met with City Administrator Tony Cox at the elegant Carnegie Hotel (above) in Johnson City on Friday, August 27, and Saturday, August 28. Councilmember Gene Brooks did not attend. Pictured above (L-R) are Mayor Barile, Kay Senter, Doc Rooney, and Tony Cox. The other picture (L-R) shows Bob Garrett, Claude Jinks, and Frank McGuffin.

Over the course of two days, these seven individuals spent around 10 hours discussing City of Morristown financial woes, unemployment, sewer problems, and their Morristown wish lists.

The City was just barely able to pay its bills last month, and that led to discussion of ways to raise more revenue (translation: dip into YOUR pocket and take more of YOUR money to cover for years of excessive spending and mismanagement). Some ideas for revenue enhancement included adding additional "user fees" on top of the new $10/month garbage user fee that will start in September, increasing property taxes, and increasing sewer fees.

Bob Garrett won the prize for one-liners: Now we know what it's like to live paycheck to paycheck.

If ever the "news"paper should have covered a meeting, this was it. But, alas, no one from the "news"paper was there on either day even though these were open meetings.  Bob Moore, the "news"paper's city government reporter, didn't make it to either meeting.

Of course, the intent of having a meeting of the MORRISTOWN City Council in JOHNSON CITY was to keep the pesky public out of the way. On keeping the public away from these meetings, Mayor Barile, the five councilmembers in attendance, and new City Administrator Tony Cox can say "mission accomplished." Almost. 

Citizens for Accountability which tapes local meetings had representatives in Johnson City on both days. Both meetings were taped, and the tapes will be available for viewing in 1-2 weeks. I'll provide info and a link to where the tapes can be viewed at a later date.

City Administrator Tony Cox plans to prepare a summary report of the Johnson City discussions and will no doubt provide it to the "news"paper.  Maybe the "news"paper will use the City's summary/press release to write an article or a series of articles about the Morristown City Council's retreat in Johnson City.

I'll post documents and handouts from the meetings in the next few days.

July 9, 2010 Morristown Mayor and City Council Pass Amendment Increasing Tax Rate from $0.98 to $1.05

Councilmembers Gene Brooks and Frank McGuffin weren't present yesterday, but Mayor Barile and Councilmembers Bob Garrett, Claude Jinks, Doc Rooney, and Kay Senter passed the amendment increasing the property tax levy of $0.98 that was passed in June to a figure of $1.05.

2010 is a reappraisal year. The whole budget/city tax rate fiasco occurred because City Administrator Tony Cox and Budget Director Brian Janish--and the Mayor and Council--refused to wait for the reappraisal and appeal process to run its course with receipt of the certified tax rate from the state.

Cox and Janish set budget, new garbage fee, and tax rate votes for June 15 and June 17 at which time a property tax rate of $0.98 was approved. 

Just 11 days later, the reappraisal numbers were finalized and a certified tax rate of $1.05 was received from the state for the City of Morristown.

The City, which had "jumped the gun" by approving a tax rate before receipt of the certified tax rate, then  decided to re-do or amend its previous tax vote and adopt the higher $1.05 tax rate.

[Unlike the City, Hamblen County recognized the requirement to wait for the final reappraisal process and receipt of the certified tax rate before voting on a new tax rate and budget. Click here for when the county delayed its scheduled vote on a tax rate because the certified rate had not been received. Click here for info on the certified Hamblen rate that was received June 28.  And click here for when a vote on the Hamblen County tax rate and budget took place on June 30 after receipt of the certified rate.]

July 8, 2010 Public Hearing on Increase of City Tax Rate from $0.98 to $1.05 and soon the RETREAT!

A public hearing and vote on raising/amending the city tax rate from $0.98 to $1.05 takes place today at 4:00 PM at the City Center.

It's a public hearing, but Mayor Barile and most Councilmembers don't really listen to comments.

The tax rate vote and the budget that includes a new $10/month garbage "fee" for citizens and a $100,000 new budget line item for the Mayor and Council and $30,000 new budget line item for the Administrator and increased "travel" money for the Mayor, Council, and Administrator are done deals.

City Administrator Tony Cox, Mayor Barile, and Council have socked it to the citizens while budgeting extra new money in the Administrator and Council budgets.  Now they are ready, in politicial lingo, "to move on."

On Tuesday, July 6, they started making plans to hold a council "retreat."  The Administrator wanted to have a "facilitator" work with council--sort of a Dr. Phil scenario. The Council nixed that--at least temporarily--and opted first for a Friday-Saturday meeting in Johnson City that may involve an overnight stay at a Johnson City hotel.

July 7, 2010 First Reading: City Tax Rate Is Increased from $0.98 to $1.05; Garbage Fee of $10/month Is Still in Place

With a 7-0 vote, Mayor Barile and City Council "increased" the City of Morristown property tax rate from $0.98 to $1.05 on first reading yesterday. The second and final reading will take place tomorrow (Thursday, July 8) at a special called meeting at 4:00 at the City Center.

This amended and increased rate comes just a little over two weeks after the property tax rate was first set at $0.98 on June 17 AND a $10/month garbage fee was voted in for residents of Morristown.

The new garbage "fee"--forcing residents to start paying a separate "fee" for garbage pick-up that has previously been a service paid for by taxes--was put in by Mayor Barile and Councilmembers Bob Garrett, Claude Jinks, Kay Senter, and Doc Rooney. Councilmember Frank McGuffin "abstained" on the garbage vote due to a potential conflict of interest in that his family owns a garbage service (Tidi-Waste). Councilmember Gene Brooks voted "no" on the garbage fee.

Why a new garbage "fee"? Mismanagement, waste, illegal money transfers, excessive and unnecessary spending, loads of debt, violations of the City Charter, $100 Million dollar wish lists, and on and on.

Higher property taxes (2007), increased sales taxes (from the 2008 "pick-your-poison" sales tax referendum), red light camera revenues, and illegal money transfers (taking money from the sewer fund and putting it in the general fund to "cover" for financial mismanagement) no longer did the financial trick at the City Center.

Since Mayor Barile, Garrett, Jinks, Rooney, and Senter didn't want to repeat any of the recent previous tax hikes/revenue "enhancements,"  they came up with a brand new "fee" to take an extra $1 million from the residents of Morristown.

And the $10/month starter rate is just a way for the Mayor and Council to get their foot in the door and get residents used to paying a fee for garbage pick-up even though there has not been any additional charge for garbage pick-up in previous years. 

Watch out!  In the coming years--- if the Mayor, Council, and City Administrator do what they have said they are going to do (pull all tax money from the sanitation fund so they can spend that tax money elsewhere and collect a garbage "fee")-- then the garbage "fee" of $10/month will end up being $17 or $18 per month or more.

July 6, 2010 City Administrator Cox Has First Reading to Increase City's Property Tax Rate on TODAY'S City Council Agenda

At today's City Council meeting at 4:00 PM, City Administrator Tony Cox is asking the Mayor and Council to change the $0.98 tax rate that they passed just a little over two weeks ago to the maximum state certified rate of $1.05. Cox has set a public hearing and second reading two days later on July 8!

Cox presented the council with a budget and tax rate of $0.98 in June. Cox's proposed budget also included a NEW $10/month garbage fee for Morristown residents. [Garbage costs have not gone up. Garbage pick-up has been a part of the city general budget for years and has been paid for with tax monies. This new "fee" is simply a way of taking more money from the residents to pay for a service that they already pay for with taxes.]

On June 17, Mayor Barile and five councilmembers (Bob Garrett, Claude Jinks, Doc Rooney, Frank McGuffin, and Kay Senter) voted for the budget and the $0.98 tax rate. Those same individuals (less McGuffin who abstained) voted for the new $10/month garbage fee. Councilmember Gene Brooks voted "NO."

Now, Cox is saying "oops" and is asking the Mayor and Council for a tax rate do-over to increase the recently passed tax rate to $1.05.

A more complete post on this proposed "amended" increase is printed in an earlier post today or click here.

July 6, 2010 City Prepares to Increase the Tax Rate ($0.98) Adopted Less Than 2 Weeks Ago to the Maximum Certified Rate of $1.05

Above is the state certified tax rate $1.0571 that was received by the City of Morristown on June 28, eleven days after City Administrator Tony Cox pushed a budget with a tax rate of $0.98 through the Morristown City Council with a  6-1 vote on second reading. Councilmember Gene Brooks was the only "no" vote. 

Now Cox has said "oops" and he wants to hold a special meeting to increase the $0.98 tax rate that he just pushed through to $1.05.

PUBLIC NOTICE (Local "news"paper, July 4, 2010)

The City of Morristown, Tennessee will hold a "Special Called" City Council Meeting on Thursday, July 8, 2010 at 4:00 pm in the City Council Chambers of City Center, 100 West First North Street. The purpose of the meeting will be for amending Ordinance No. 3393 -Fiscal Year 2011 Budget by levying a property tax rate of $1.05 per $100 on assessed valuation of all real and personal property.

Anthony W. Cox
City Administrator

Haste makes waste.  So Cox and Company want a tax rate do-over!

This has been an interesting budget year for the city. Finances are in chaos. Laws are broken by the City. A budget gets zoomed through. Garbage pick-up services used to be part of the regular city budget paid for with tax money.  This year, however, the Mayor and five councilmembers (Garrett, Jinks, McGuffin, Rooney, and Senter) have decided that all the tax increases of past years aren't enough to pay for years of financial mismanagement at the City Center and years of Mayoral and Council failure to ask questions, failure to provide financial oversight, and failure to even read the City audits!

Mayor Barile and Council raised property taxes about 3 years ago. Later they did a "pick-your-poison" sales tax referendum.  Then sewer fees were raised last year and again this year. Now, Cox and Company (Mayor Barile, Garrett, Jinks, McGuffin, Rooney, and Senter) have decided to start a brand new garbage fee ($10/month) to pay for the budget that they passed. This new garbage fee will hit and hurt elderly and low-income/fixed income residents harder than anyone else. 

But all is not gloom and doom at the City Center.  Despite the desperate financial situation at the city and the start of garbage fees on residents, City Administrator Tony Cox, Mayor Barile, and five of the six councilmembers have managed to ADD $100,000 to the council's budget and $30,000 to the Administrator's budget along with increased "travel" money in both the Council's and Administrator's budgets. Maybe these "special" monies can be used for a nifty weekend retreat for the Mayor and Councilmembers in some cozy house overlooking the lake or in a hotel outside of Hamblen County.

[Yes, discussion of a Council "retreat" is on the work session agenda this afternoon following the regular council meeting at 4:00 PM. This was brought up by Administrator Tony Cox weeks ago for team building and vision unity. With the financial mess the City is in, the Administrator, Mayor Barile, and Councilmembers don't need to "retreat" anywhere. They need to stay right here in Morristown where the problems are.]

Now what does the new budget have for the citizens and taxpayers of Morristown?  No retreat! No goodies! No travel! Just a new garbage fee of $10/month.  After all, the extra $130,000 and extra travel money for the Administrator and Mayor and Councilmembers and all the City Center perks and car allowances have to be paid by someone.  And this $10/month fee will increase to about $18/month when the garbage fund is fully supported by "garbage fees" instead of continuing to be a service funded through property and other taxes.

This may be a rare, one-of-a-kind vote in Morristown with a tax rate being amended just two weeks after it passed!  But you can bet that there won't be an amendment to cut out the special new funds that are in the council's and Administrator's budgets.

But never fear, the "six" who were solid in June for a $0.98 tax rate and who voted to balance the city's budget on the backs of the residents with a brand spanking new $10/month garbage fee---while putting an extra $100,000 in the council's budget and an extra $30,000 in the Administrator's budget and extra travel dollars in both the council's AND Administrator's budgets---will be just as solid for increasing the tax rate in July to $1.05. 

The Mayor and Councilmembers couldn't wait for the certified tax rate. City Administrator Tony Cox couldn't wait for the certified tax rate. Budget Director Brian Janish couldn't wait for the certified tax rate. Well, since the tax rate they passed in June ($0.98) is not over the certified tax rate of $1.05, maybe the "six" should just give property owners a break and let their hasty $0.98 tax rate stand. Nah, that won't happen.