Initial OK given for new budget in Oneida
Oneida’s Board of Mayor and Aldermen Thursday night approved on first reading an 85¢ property tax rate and the proposed budget for fiscal year 2008-2009.
And while the tax rate approved Thursday is down a nickle from last year’s 90¢ per $100 assessed property value, it will actually generate increased revenue for the town as it is approximately eight cents above the expected certified tax rate of 77¢, according to City Recorder Betty Matthews.
Exceeding the state’s certified tax rate requires city officials to conduct two public hearings prior to the formal adoption of the tax rate levy and budget ordinances.
In rapid succession with little discussion except comments from Mayor Jack E. Lay, the board voted unanimously to adopt the tax levy, 2007-2008 amended budget (which lists actual income and expenditures for the year ending June 30), and the 2008-2009 proposed budget ordinances.
Mayor Lay said that the proposed budget for the town “is as close to this year as we could get it,” adding that the figures could change as the year progresses due to several pending applications for state and federal grant funds.
Lay said this was the most difficult budget estimate to put together during his 13-year tenure as mayor. The big question mark concerning the FY 2008-2009 budget is the cost of fuel, Mayor Lay stated.
“I don’t know where it’s going to stop . . . or where it’s going to level off.”
A second reading on those ordinances is set for the board’s regularly scheduled July 17 meeting, which will be preceded by one of the two required public hearings. The date for the other public hearing has not be announced.
Prior to the adoption of the budget-related measures, the board approved a code of ethics ordinance to bring officials and employees of the Town of Oneida into compliance with Chapter I of the Tennessee General Assembly’s Public Acts of 2006. That ordinance also requires a public hearing and a second reading before adoption.
In other action Thursday, Mayor Lay announced that Oneida would be the recipient of a $375,000 H.O.M.E. grant from the Tennessee Housing Development Agency (THDA). Those funds, which require no matching money from the town, will be used to rehabilitate and/or construct new housing for low income residents of the town. THDA informed the town that the grant award is half of the $750,000 limit for any one county.
Community Development Partners had earlier been employed by the board to seek the grant funds as well as to administer the grant for the town. Mayor Lay said that an announcement would be made soon about eligibility requirements and the application process for local residents.
Also Thursday night, the board:
• Approved a fund-raising roadblock for the Oneida Band Association on Saturday, June 28 from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. at the Oak Grove traffic light on U.S. 27. The funds will be used for the band’s uniform fund;
• Heard Fire Chief Mike Stringer’s activity reports for the months of April and May, and approved a request for a new member of the firefighting force. The board approved Chris Wilson, an EMT with the Scott County Ambulance Service, to replace Kevin Moses, who has relocated to Arkansas. Wilson, Chief Stringer stated, is already trained and is a Level 3 firefighter; and,
• Heard a report from Mayor Lay concerning the gift to the city of permanent access to two water tanks off Eli Lane by property owner Harold Brooks. Previous to Brooks’ acquisition of the property, the tanks were accessible by an easement, Mayor Lay stated.
Immediately following the adjournment of that meeting, Mayor Lay convened the Oneida Beer Board, which approved the issuance of off premises beer permits for four former Big John’s Foodette locations: Harriman Oil’s station at the corner of U.S. 27 and Depot St.; and Lee Food Mart’s stores at the Scott County Food Court in High Point, on Coopertown Rd., near Burchfield Elementary School, and on U.S. 27 in Oak Grove.