The Southeast Recycling Development Council is holding workshops in Tennessee on August 13th in Oak Ridge at the UT Outreach Center, August 14th in Burns at the Montgomery Bell State Park Conference Center and August 15th in Jackson at the West Tennessee Research and Education Center. These workshops will bring together members of industry with state and local officials to discuss how recycling can play a role in job creation and economic development in Tennessee while also reducing landfill costs.
Registration for the workshops ends this Friday, August 10th. To register for a workshop in your area, contact SERDC nat (828) 507-0123.
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
CTAS Index of Acts for 2012
The University of Tennessee County Technical Assistance Service has released its summary of all new legislation affecting county governments in Tennessee. The Index of Acts can be downloaded here http://www.ctas.tennessee.edu/PUBLIC/web/ctas.nsf/0/846F0034AA0CD08086257A1A004E7F3C/$file/Index+of+Acts+2012.pdf?openelement. It is divided into summaries of general law, public acts of local application and private acts. The summaries are listed by subject categories.
New AG Opinion on Open Meetings Act
The Tennessee Attorney General issued an opinion earlier this month answering a question related to the Tennessee Open Meetings Act. The question posed to the Attorney General was whether members of a county or city legislative body could share a meal together and casually discuss issues before the governing body if the discussion is for informative purposes only and no decisions are reached or attempts made to obtain commitments. The opinion discusses much of the case law interpreting these statutes and advises that while public business could possibly be discussed without violating the law, the discussion of the members must not constitute "deliberations." The opinion cites a recent court case out of Metro Nashville to provide guidance on what are "deliberations." The court defined the term to mean examining and consulting in order to form an opinion or weighing arguments for and against a proposed course of action. While the A.G. Opinion (the full text of which can be found here: http://www.tn.gov/attorneygeneral/op/2012/op12-60.pdf) allows for the possibility of informal discussions about county business that would not violate the act, it is hard to imagine a substantive conversation about county business that included no content that could be challenged as related to forming an opinion or weighing sides of an issue.
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
State Revenue Collections for April
Tennessee revenue collections continued an upward growth trend in April, with a net positive growth of 9.67% over April collections one year ago. Finance and Administration Commissioner Mark Emkes reported this month that overall April revenues were $1,386.4 million or $82.8 million more than the state budgeted.
“Sales tax collections recorded the 25th consecutive month of positive growth dating back to April of 2010,” Emkes said. “In addition, corporate Franchise and Excise tax collections continue to be very encouraging, but the Hall Income Tax recorded a negative growth over last April and fell considerably short of the budgeted estimate.
Sales tax collections were $42.9 million more than the budgeted estimate for April. The April growth rate was positive 8.77%. For nine months revenues are over collected by $183.4 million. The year-to-date growth rate for nine months was positive 7.26%.
Hall Income tax collections for April were $15.7 million less than the budgeted estimate. For nine months collections are $18.1 million below the budgeted estimate. The growth rate for the nine month period was negative 4.41%.
Of note to County Highway Departments, gasoline and motor fuel collections for April decreased by 4.07%, and were $2.7 million less than the budgeted estimate. For nine months revenues are negative 1.03%, and $6.4 million below the budgeted estimate of $625.9 million.
From all sources, year-to-date collections for nine months were $412.9 million more than the budgeted estimate. The general fund was over collected by $400 million and the four other funds were over collected by $12.9 million.
“Sales tax collections recorded the 25th consecutive month of positive growth dating back to April of 2010,” Emkes said. “In addition, corporate Franchise and Excise tax collections continue to be very encouraging, but the Hall Income Tax recorded a negative growth over last April and fell considerably short of the budgeted estimate.
Sales tax collections were $42.9 million more than the budgeted estimate for April. The April growth rate was positive 8.77%. For nine months revenues are over collected by $183.4 million. The year-to-date growth rate for nine months was positive 7.26%.
Hall Income tax collections for April were $15.7 million less than the budgeted estimate. For nine months collections are $18.1 million below the budgeted estimate. The growth rate for the nine month period was negative 4.41%.
Of note to County Highway Departments, gasoline and motor fuel collections for April decreased by 4.07%, and were $2.7 million less than the budgeted estimate. For nine months revenues are negative 1.03%, and $6.4 million below the budgeted estimate of $625.9 million.
From all sources, year-to-date collections for nine months were $412.9 million more than the budgeted estimate. The general fund was over collected by $400 million and the four other funds were over collected by $12.9 million.
CTAS Updates Model Debt Policy
The UT County Technical Assistance Service has recently updated its guidance for county debt policies. The revised memorandum is available at the CTAS website: http://www.ctas.tennessee.edu/ under the news and featured items. Beginning January 1, 2012, the Tennessee State Funding Board requires counties issuing debt to have adopted a written debt management policy that complies with certain minimum requirements. The 43 page memorandum on the CTAS website will help any county that has not already adopted its policy.
TBI Releases Crime in Tennessee and School Crime Reports
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation recently released the "Crime in Tennessee 2011" report which showed a 1.7% decrease in overall crimes reported in Tennessee in 2011 compared with 2010. This is third year in a row that reported offenses decreased when compared with the previous year. The full report is available for download on-line at:
http://www.tbi.tn.gov/tn_crime_stats/publications/Crime%20in%20Tennessee%202011.pdf
For the 2011, the largest majority of crimes reported were committed against property at more than 58% which is a decrease of 2.5% from the previous year. Crimes against persons also decreased approximately 2%, however, crimes against society increased 3%. Overall, Tennessee has seen crime drop a total of 4.6% since 2009.
In addition, the TBI has also released its special study on crime in Tennessee's schools. Produced by TBI's Crime Statistics Unit, the study spans a three-year period between 2009 and 2011 This report is the second of its kind, following up on the state's first ever school crimes study released in May of 2009.
The reported number of crimes that occurred at schools decreased by 5.5% from 2010 to 2011 with an overall decrease of 6.7% between 2009 and 2011. There were 12,435 crimes reported at schools in 2011 compared to 13,155 in 2010.
The 33 page full report on School Crime can be accessed here:
http://www.tbi.tn.gov/tn_crime_stats/documents/SchoolCrimeStudy2011_FINAL.pdf
It profiles both the offenders and victims of the crimes on school campuses and discusses the involvement of weapons, drugs and alcohol and gangs.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Tennessee Gets No Child Left Behind Waiver
Tennessee was one of ten states today to receive a waiver from the Obama administration from requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act. For a full article on this issue from the Knoxville News Sentinnel go here.
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