Loudon County is a unique place, we have the rural, small town feel and lifestyle but with nearly any amenity citizens need. If not right here, within a ten minute drive. We have massive lake access and are in the shadow of the Great Smoky Mountains. Our cost of living is one of the lowest in the state and quality of life is one of the highest in the state. Just look how many folks come here to retire.

In the 2010 census, Loudon County had a population of about 49,000. In the upcoming 2020 census, it's expected we will grow to around 55,000. Obviously, the county residential growth continues at a normal, natural pace. Aside from this tiny time in history, with the Chinese Corona Virus, Loudon County has and maintains an almost zero unemployment rate. There will always be those few hundred that won't work and never will, no matter how great the economy gets. So, obviously, our business and industrial growth also continues at a normal, natural pace. What happens now?

There are those who want more and more of everything but is that best for our quality of life?

The single largest cost to the tax payers of Loudon County is public education. 65% of every property tax dollar you pay to the county goes to the schools. The cost to educate a student in Loudon County is a little more than $9,000.00 per student. Half of that, $4,500.00, is local dollars the, rest comes from state and federal funds. Current Loudon County school population is about 4,600. Statistically, that means for every child in the county system county tax payers pay that $4,500.00. What happens when the school populations increase? Pretty simple, the cost to the tax payers goes up accordingly. Don't misunderstand, if a new student shows up for class on a Monday, that doesn't mean it's an automatic $4,500.00 increase. It all works through the state formulas that set student/teacher ratios and classroom size averages. When enough new students show up and classroom averages go up, more classrooms and teachers must be added. When enough new teachers and classrooms are added, then new additions and schools must be added. You can see how the snowball grows.

In the last eight years, the Loudon County school board built two new schools and added large additions to several others. The debt on that building program is well over fifty million dollars which the tax payers will be paying for for many, many years. That's where part of your 65% in property tax goes. Let me say, we owe it to our students and teachers to provide a clean, modern, safe environment for education. It's the cost of doing business. As the county population continues to grow, likely more students will be added to our enrollment and the costs will go up. The school board operation cost has gone up by 3.9 million dollars in the last ten years. Current budget, 41.6 million dollars.

Where else does growth impact the county and it's tax payers? More people and more jobs apparently bring more crime. In 2004, the county built a 4.5 million dollar addition to the Justice Center and jail. Right this minute, the county is about to open a new 17.5 million dollar jail addition. That's 22 million dollars in just six years to handle the growing population. Tax payers will be paying for these for many, many years. Added to that, is the increase in the sheriff and jail departments operating budgets. In just ten years, their budgets have increased by more than 4.5 million dollars. Let me say, we owe it to our deputies, jailers and apparently our inmates, to provide the necessary equipment and facilities to maintain a safe environment for them to work. It's the cost of doing business. 

How else does growth impact the county tax payers? Of course, as the county grows, more services must be provided. The cost to operate nearly every county department has gone up in the last ten years, some way more than others.

These are just a few of the county departments that have seen major cost increases over the last ten years due to growth. 

Here's the great news, Loudon County hasn't a property tax increase in nearly ten years, in fact, there was a four cent decrease in 2014. At $1.80, Loudon County has the fourth lowest property tax rate in the state. Low taxes equals a low cost of living and a higher quality of life.

Does all this information mean that community growth is a good thing? You must define growth. Normal, natural, organic growth is a good thing. Our annual growth in residential, commercial and industry tax revenues has kept pace with the ever growing cost of education and county operations and services. It has sustained us for many years now.

Here's the bad news. Loudon County is on the verge of inverting from growth supporting operations to operations overwhelming our revenues. There are even some in local government, right now, discussing a property tax increase.

There have been reports in the last few weeks. that more than 700 new residential units, homes, apartments condos and such, could be locating to the east Loudon County area over the next two years.  If this were to happen, the system would be overwhelmed. The average residential property tax in the county is around $600.00 per year. Remember back, the average cost to educate one child is $4,500.00 per year. Fairly simple math to do. I dare say, if there are 700 new residential units, there will be more than one or two students added to the school system. Beware of developers who say they're just wanting to help the community. My experience has been that most are just out to help themselves. They aren't concerned about the impact they're developments place on local governments.

If 700 new units came in, I dare say, more than one or two of those will find their way into the judicial system and jail. I dare say that if 700 new units come in, there will be a greater demand on county services. 

What about new industry? Suppose a new industry moves in bringing a couple hundred, well paying jobs? The logic could be, that a couple hundred folks could move from lower paying jobs to higher paying jobs and that would be a good thing. We already know that Loudon County unemployment is essentially zero. So, where do the folks come from to fill the lower paying jobs that were vacated by the folks that moved to the higher paying jobs? There would need to be more folks moving in that will have children in the school system and using county services. It's a vicious cycle.

The information above is based on hard facts and figures. In Tennessee, the cities and counties that have the largest populations, the largest commercial and industrial bases also have the highest property taxes, wheel taxes and sales taxes. They also have the highest cost of living and the lowest quality of life, based on surveys.

Growth can not and should not be stopped. Controlled, well managed, normal growth in any community is beneficial. Does anyone really want Loudon County to go the way of West Knoxville?

These are the facts, you decide.

In part two of Growth Myth?, I'll address how Loudon and Lenoir City impact the overall welfare of the county as a whole.