Holiday Victories for All of Us

Hello everyone,

Lots of good news came out of the December 2007 County Commission meeting held on Thursday. In fact, I couldn’t quite believe it! No less than three different resolutions, all of which should help improve the quality of life for Blount County citizens, passed in one evening. I’ll tell you a little about each of them below. On the Agenda, they were listed like this, under New Business.

L.1. Resolution to amend Resolution #99-03-001 providing for regulation of dogs and cats.


L.2. Resolution to amend the Zoning Resolution of Blount County, Tennessee, Section.14 D concerning outdoor lighting requirements.


L.3. Property tax relief for senior citizens.


On Animal Control:

In this act, we updated a resolution already on the books to make it possible for our Animal Control Officer to issue citations when pet owners don’t take the appropriate steps to contain vicious animals. Once a citation is issued, those owners can be fined in General Sessions Court up to a maximum of $500.

And while I'm on animal control, I'd like to share an email I recently received from BlountCARE, one of the many groups who are working to help us raise funds for a county-wide all-access animal shelter.

If you're considering a new pet as a gift this season, I urge you to read this message.

"Thank you for all your responses. Just wanted to let you know that the two Doberman girls have been pulled from the Loudon Shelter. One went to a forever home and one went to East Tennessee Doberman Rescue.

But there are still three male Dobermans that were owner surrendered earlier this month from the same place, that are in a foster home with Blount CARE and still looking for forever homes. (The Dobermans in rescue for being vetted, crate trained, leash trained, and learning basic obedience.) If you have room in your heart and home for one of these big boys, please email info@blountcare.org to get a new best friend for your family.

Loudon still has lots of dogs and cats from Blount County that would like to have a new home for Christmas. There are several Boxers and Boxers crosses. Very sweet animals with lots of energy. There is a very nice German Shepherd whose time is running out. There was a very cute Jack Russell mix picked up yesterday. And today a very sweet, small Pit mix stray was brought in. (She was licking the animal control officer's face through the bars.) There are many, many mixed breed puppies, as well as purebred dogs in all colors and sizes, for every household.

If you need a new best friend this holiday season, please check the Loudon Shelter.

Let's remember these animals in shelters and rescues that need forever homes this year. Let's make it one of our resolutions for 2008, to reduce the number of animals in shelters and foster homes looking for permanent homes. And please remember to spay or neuter your pets.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!


Terry And Everyone at Blount CARE"


On Outdoor Lighting Requirements:

This was the final step in a process begun months ago by your Planning Commission to put design requirements in place for outdoor lighting in rural areas. I first heard complaints about “light pollution” back when I was going door to door during the 2006 campaign, and I understood those complaints. When we lived in town, we understood why it was so hard to see the stars. When we moved out to the country, though, it was disappointing to run into so many lights that still made it hard to enjoy the starry night sky. I appreciate these steps taken to limit further light pollution in rural areas of the county. (If you ever find yourself far from city lights, you’ll see a carpet of stars that you didn’t even know was there…)

On Property Tax Relief for Seniors

Ok, as I said at the Commission meeting, it’s very important for me to be as straightforward with you as possible. To that end, I want you to know that I had not been particularly supportive of this move until very recently. As my colleague, Commissioner Mike Walker, said at the meeting, I, too, was worried about the potential impact this could have on a senior who’s economic status suddenly changes. If their tax rate has been frozen for several years, and something changes that would prevent them from qualifying, they would be responsible for the then-current tax rate, potentially a sizeable jump.

And like my friend Commissioner Bob Proffitt, I, too, was worried about the potential impact of this resolution on other taxpayers. I know many people who are much younger than 65, but who struggle considerably to make ends meet. Though it’s easy to say that they have the option of earning more income, in reality that is not always true. A 35 year old single parent of three may have very limited options for furthering her education or securing a job with better pay. In fact, you may find it interesting (or distressing) to read a report on self-sufficiency standards in Tennessee prepared by the Tennessee Network for Community Economic Development and the Tennessee Alliance for Progress. According to that 2002 report, an East Tennessee household with one adult, one preschooler and one school-aged child needs to earn at least 13.49 an hour (28,497 a year) just to get by. The last thing I want to do is help one Blount Countian by hurting another.

And finally, putting this in place before the end of the year would require something in the neighborhood of $17,000 in additional costs for the Trustee’s office that we didn’t put in this year’s budget. Hmmm….

So what changed my mind?

Quite honestly, it was your input.

I must tell you that I try not to make decisions like this based solely on emotion. Yes, seniors need the help, but as I’ve pointed out above, that alone was not necessarily enough reason to do this. However, you, the people of Blount County, provided information- numbers- that convinced me this change could in fact be a win-win for everyone.

Quite simply, many of our elderly citizens are income-poor, but land-rich. For example, I know an elderly woman who supports a disabled relative on $800 a month. Money is so tight she has to keep a small garden to supplement her food, and she gets the drinking water for her family in coolers from a spring in the Smokies. And yet, she lives on 10 or 11 acres of land that’s been in her family for years. Now the tax freeze would only apply to a maximum of 5 acres of that land, but still, when one has so little, that will mean a lot.

And keeping her on that land is to our advantage. As property taxes rise, it’s only a matter of time until she’s forced to move, and when she does, what happens to her land? Someone will buy it, put 1-10 houses on it, and sell it. At that point, you and I will be paying more (to provide schools, police protection, etc. for the families who move in) than we would ‘lose’ in the tax freeze for her one household.

And when that happens to enough people, over enough years, our overall tax rate will increase faster and faster to keep up. Resulting the same spiraling cycle already experienced in other parts of the country.

So, in summary, putting the tax relief package in place does the following:

· Makes it a little more likely that low-income seniors can tolerate their property tax burden

· Makes it easier for those with acreage to stay on their land a little longer

· Helps preserve some green space

· Helps slow (not stop) development and the increase in infrastructure costs that come with it

· Helps us maintain a certain level of age diversity among our population. (If all our seniors are taxed out of the community, the social fabric of the county will change, and not for the better.)

So why wouldn’t I vote for it? :-)

However, I encourage you to respect the votes of those on the Commission who voted against this. I don't fault them at all- many of them had the same questions I’d had earlier and I understand that. I do have to thank those who voted for it, because it is in some ways a gamble for all of us. Still, I think it’s a gamble worth taking, and I believe most of Blount County agrees.

Happy Holidays, everyone,

~Wendy