Starting with Bobby Johnson Sr. who voted against the Rain Tax from the beginning.

Then there's newly elected councilman, James Brandon who ran much of his campaign opposing the Rain Tax.

Then there's just re-elected councilman, Buddy Hines, who used a robo-call during the election to tell voters that it was time to review the Rain Tax to see if it's good for the citizens and churches of Loudon County. I'm sure since the November 6th election, he's had ample time to have done his review and is fully aware that the Rain Tax is a huge burden on the churches and citizens of Lenoir City.

Finally, there's just re-elected councilwoman, Jennifer Wampler who has posted several times on her social media accounts how much she didn't want to vote for the Rain Tax but was mandated to by other government entities to do so. I'm sure by now, someone has explained the facts to her that there is no such mandate for the Rain Tax. So she should be leading the charge for the repeal. I'm sure her follow, downtown business owners would appreciate her help.

That's 4 of the 6, a majority, of councilpersons who should be voting for repeal. If these 4, get the ball rolling, I'm confident that the other two, just re-elected, Jim Shields and Eddie Simpson will jump on board. Seems simple enough.

I suspect Mayor Aikins will be opposing any Rain Tax repeal. His position is that if repealed, the council will have to find some way to replace the $600,000.00 the Rain Tax brings in. But it's only been in place for a little more than a year. How has the city come to be so dependent of the Rain Tax in such a short time?

Lenoir City's just like nearly every other government, they don't have a revenue problem, they have a major spending problem.

It's time to repeal the Rain Tax before this madness goes any further.