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Dear Editor:

I would like to address the proposed sales tax increase for Blount County that is on the Nov. 4 ballot.

As vice chairman of the Growth Management Committee, which was established in June of 2007 by the Blount County Commission to look into preserving open space by procuring development rights, we explored many options or ideas to enhance and maintain the rural character of Blount County.

The committees detailed report was presented at a public forum and to the Blount county Commissioners this past March. The committee offered 10 funding ideas or suggestions in the report. Two of the committees suggestions were the following:

1. Raising the motel tax and sharing the increased revenue equally with the Visitors Bureau.

2. Raising the local sales tax from 9.25 percent to 9.75 percent because the committee was told that the state may come in and do it first so the committee wanted to ensure that the increased revenue stayed in Blount county. The committee asked for a percentage of this revenue for procuring development rights.

Enough background, let’s get to the meat of this conversation and ask the following:

A. What is the status of the report given to the county commissioners by the Growth Management Committee? The citizens voiced their opinion loud and clear that they wanted to preserve open space and thus have a right to know what the present status is.

B. Speaking for myself and not the committee, it seems that other organizations or community leaders have jumped on our funding suggestions but want it all for themselves instead of sharing the new revenue with all the citizens of Blount County and their best interests.

C. If the increased revenue from the proposed sales tax increase is over $7 million as stated in The Daily Times, where exactly is that money going to be distributed and can it change from year to year?

D. How can I or anyone else support this tax increase without knowing exactly where the money is going to be allocated. I would consider supporting this and I believe others may also, but not before our city officials and our county commission provide us a complete line-item breakdown of where the $7 million plus dollars will be distributed. With the present state of the economy, I believe the citizens of Blount County want and insist on accountability prior to any action being taken at the ballot box.

Please don’t ask me or others to vote yes without providing the detailed information needed to make an informed decision prior to casting our vote.

Regards,

Bill Newby
2265 Willingham Lane
Maryville, TN 37803