Every penny of the Rain Tax, by law, can only be used for storm water and flood control. Of course, city officials have been creative in defining storm water and flood control. In their definition, most employees working for the street department are paid with Rain Tax money.

When the council passed the mayor's Rain Tax, that money was going to be used for all kinds of storm water improvements. Anybody seen ant improvements yet? A million dollars worth of improvements? Not hardly.

Mayor Aikens and the council pulled the biggest tax scam on Lenoir City residents, businesses, churches and schools that has ever been perpetrated on a population and they're laughing all the way to the bank.