Above you will see the payback schedule for debt service through the end of this decade.  It’s pretty obvious to see why I was critical of the restructuring proposal.  We carved out money for our term and left the next commission with the task of finding more money to put into debt service.

While I still have issues with this, I believe the motive behind the restructuring was to buy time to find savings in other areas.  This means that the ultimate ‘right or wrong’ decision won’t be known until the next commission sends us a sarcastic ‘thank you’ for the shape we leave them in.  However, it should be noted that the revenue exceeds expenditures significantly through fiscal 2013-14 which will soften any need to provide immediate additional funding.

This shows some signs of respect provided we don’t decide to pull out additional revenue from the debt service fund this year.

• This was NOT a vote on a tax increase.  This was supporting our school board in allowing them to make a case to the voters on whether our community should increase the sales tax .25% for education.
• For every $100 spent consumers would spend an extra $0.25 on sales tax.
• The motion passed unanimously, however, for many commissioners it was based upon two conditions that have not be met yet.  1)  All of the revenue shall be directed toward education.  2)  There is to be an agreement between the city and the county to split the revenue 50/50.
• I asked Mayor Dan Eldridge his position on the issue and he stated that he “supports letting the tax payers decide whether or not they want to increase the sales tax for the schools.”

2)      The Washington County Commission voted unanimously to support Jonesborough in pushing for an agreement with the state.  The plan would take state sales tax revenue from a specific area in downtown Jonesborough and invest it in tourism.  It sounds like an excellent idea.  It will NOT cost the tax payers any additional money and it could prove to provide a significant economic boost to all of Washington County.  Kudos to Mathew Hill and Kelly Wolfe for working on the plan.

The title of the resolution speaks for itself:          “A RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE CREATING A COURTHOUSE SQUARE REVITALIZATION AND TOURISM DEVELOPMENT ZONE IN JONESBOROUGH AND RETURNING STATE SALES TAX DOLLARS COLLECTED WITHIN THE ZONE TO FUND NEEDED IMPROVEMENTS”

3)       Debt Management Policy unanimously approved.

The debt management policy was unanimously approved.  This was a state mandate and the county is required to send this to the comptroller.  This is an excellent policy.  Mayor Eldridge and the budget committee did an excellent job on this.

http://www.johnsoncitypress.com/News/article.php?ID=78424

http://timesnews.net/article.php?id=9023686

http://tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100605/NEWS0201/6050345/-1/WAP&template=wapart