Lenoir City approves tax increas

Lenoir City Council approved Monday a property tax rate about 14 cents higher than the state certified rate for the upcoming fiscal year.

Lenoir City Mayor Tony Aikens said during the called meeting specifically for the budget that the state’s property reappraisal proposed a tax rate of $0.8530 per $100 of assessed value. Council, however, was presented an ordinance to keep the rate at the previous year’s $0.9955.

Aikens said he and council discussed the matter “at length” during budget talks before deciding the extra revenue could help with upcoming expenses and projects.

Maggie Hunt, city finance director, said the rate would equate to an estimated $500,000 in additional revenue for the city.

“One thing that Lenoir City is acquiring is a new fire truck,” Aikens said. “We did receive a grant on that truck, however, there’s a $150,000 that the city must match. The city has seen the need, after talking to the public safety director and police chief Don White, that we add three new police officers on the streets in Lenoir City. Lenoir City has not added police officers, actual patrol officers, on the streets since the late ‘90s.”

Police Chief Don White said demand has increased since the last time patrol officers were added to the force.

“Since the late ‘90s, early 2000s, where we were answering 400-500 calls a month, that has steadily increased just due to the growth of the city and the traffic flow and our business corridor on (U.S. Highway) 321,” White said. “We’re answering on average anywhere from 1,500 to 1,600 calls a month, which has tripled. And we still have to fill our vacation that’s required by the accrual, and we’ve got some long-term employees, so we’re filling about 90 weeks of vacation from our current staff. We can’t really run our shift short. We’re really stretched out. … We’ve become a reactive police department just by calls coming through the 911 center versus a proactive police department, which is what I would prefer.”

White said he needs more than three additional officers but compromised with council due to the expenses that come with hiring personnel.

Some of the fire department’s equipment is outdated, White said. One ladder truck and two pumper trucks were purchased by the city in the early 1990s and are still being used.

“Most cities they retire those vehicles after about 10 years,” he said. “We’re in the bonus rounds for sure, and those ladder trucks are $1 million, and the average cost of the pumper is about $650,000. It just costs a lot of money to operate. We’ve been so blessed to keep taxes so low. I’m a property owner here in Lenoir City. I get it. But we’ve just got to have the equipment.”

Aikens said Hunt recently compiled a report for him that found Lenoir City’s property taxes are still lower than surrounding municipalities.

Other expenses in the budget include $35,000 for a tractor for the Parks and Recreation Department and $70,000 in pool equipment.

“I know four years ago, if everyone recalls, we had another recertification,” Hunt said. “We did not take the certified tax rate which … kept it lower than the actual certified tax rate, so we lost money for four years. … The state does the recertification. That is not up to us on how your property increases. Which if you go to sell, everyone says, ‘I will buy your property for what it’s certified.’ Because it’s a lower price. I think we’ve done a lot with the low property taxes that we’ve had.”

Hunt pointed to the Central Park splash pad, upgraded parks, sheds and pavilions, which “takes money,” as well as taxes for Lenoir City Schools.

“Our expenditures have gone up every year just like everyone in this room’s expenditures have gone up at your house,” she said. “They’ve gone up at your business. They’ve gone up. It’s the same with the city. Everything costs more. Your biggest asset is your employees. … You’ve got to take care of your employees. And, of course, wages have to go up because gas, groceries, everything else is. I think we’ve done really well with the property tax amount that we have. It’s an increase, but it’s not that bad of an increase if you look around and see what we have.”

Councilman Eddie Simpson said he’s proud of the city’s improvements.

“We don’t take anything lightly,” Jennifer Wampler, councilwoman, said. “Of course, we all live in the city also. I am for keeping costs down and not wasting anything if we don’t have to. Of course, I was (an) observer for many years, but serving on the boards, I am amazed at what we get done, and I just want to say that the employees and, of course, the mayor is so progressive in what he’s doing as far as moving our city forward. I’m very proud of Lenoir City. … We went over this with a fine tooth comb to make sure we got everything we could out of our dollar.”

Simpson and Wampler motioned and seconded, respectively, to approve the tax rate. The vote was unanimous.

In other news, Lenoir City Council:

• Approved the FYE 2021-22 budget.

• Approved a 25-cent increase on refuse collection fees.

• Approved FYE 2020-21 budget amendments.

• Approved the FYE 2021-22 Lenoir City Schools budget.

• Approved FYE 2020-21 Lenoir City Schools budget amendments.

• Approved annexation of property located at U.S. Highways 321 and 70 East, Loudon County Control Tax Map 10J, Group A, Parcels 11.00 and 13.00 within the Lenoir City Urban Growth Property.

• Approved a plan of services for the annexed properties.

• Rezoned property located at 1803 Highway 321 from C-3 Highway Commercial District to R-3 High Density Residential District.

• Awarded the 2020-21 paving contract to Greenback Asphalt with the low bid of $216,400.