Recent editorials from Tennessee newspapers:
___
Jan. 21
The Johnson City Press on a push to have lawmakers ban businesses from relocating to different districts for tax-break incentives:
Should government protect a private business from competition?
That’s what Steve Johnson, developer of The Pinnacle shopping center at Bristol, Tennessee, intends with the help of top gun lobbyist Ron Ramsey, former speaker of the Tennessee Senate and lieutenant governor.
Johnson hired Ramsey to shepherd legislation through the state legislature which would prevent businesses located at The Pinnacle from relocating to the next big regional development, ostensibly the Boones Creek incentive district in north Johnson City. Indeed, the heat is on to stall or prevent the development with failed pressure from a handful of lawyers and businessman to delay approval.
Early last year the state began to transform Interstate 26’s Exit 17 into a diverging diamond configuration more conducive to traffic flow. And Gov. Bill Lee signed legislation to create a 950-acre district where 75% of new sales tax revenue will be used to incentivize tenants. Businesses seeking to locate there could apply for incentive money to offset the cost of property acquisition, design or construction, similar to the same incentive law The Pinnacle used to develop.
Bass Pro, Carmax, Marquee Cinemas and the region’s largest Belk were among initial tenants at The Pinnacle and Johnson wants to keep them there, along with some 70 other businesses, including those pulled from other communities, Kingsport’s BestBuy among those. Johnson wants to be sure that what’s good for his goose is not good for Johnson City’s gander.
“All we care about is that they don’t poach from existing sites, period,” Ramsey said. He’s drafting legislation to ensure that businesses in existing border-region incentive districts don’t move to the incentive district at Boones Creek. He says his legislation will ensure that businesses won’t benefit from state tax breaks twice.
Perhaps that should have been written into the original incentive district legislation. But doing so after the fact seems an inappropriate government intrusion in the marketplace in an attempt to protect a single private business.
“You see industry all the time that will go somewhere for a tax break, that tax break runs out, then they go somewhere else,” Ramsey said. “That doesn’t do anybody any good.” Clearly the business thinks it does them some good or they wouldn’t relocate. As clear, it does the local economy some good with jobs, sales taxes and shopping opportunities.
Says Ramsey, “This will be more protection of state taxpayers as much as anything else.”
No. It will be more protective of The Pinnacle’s success than anything else.
Online: https://www.johnsoncitypress.com/
___
Jan. 20
The Cookeville Herald-Citizen on the Tennessee Press Association celebrating Public Notice Week:
In her column about how newspapers continue to play a vital role in public notice, Deborah Fisher of the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government is right when she says that one advantage when a third party such as a newspaper publishes public notices is that it creates a one-stop shop for the public.
Our readers don’t have to go to visit every bank to find a list of houses in foreclosure or the county clerk and master’s office to find properties being auctioned to recoup unpaid taxes. They don’t have to visit the office of every government in our area to find out about meetings or potential changes in taxes and laws that affect them.
The Herald-Citizen published 1,308 legal notices in 2019. That includes notices from the government as well as notices to people who haven’t paid taxes, termination of parental rights and house foreclosures.
Not many public meetings happen in the Cookeville area without a government official mentioning that they advertised it in the Herald-Citizen. We publish notices including county and city budgets to who’s seeking election to the county school board, city council, county commission, the district attorney and public defender as well as criminal, chancery and criminal court judges.
Just last week, the Cookeville planning director mentioned that they published a list of annexed areas of the city ahead of a meeting to announce the progress on providing city services for those areas.
We treasure the fact that everything in this newspaper is important to someone, from fun puzzles and horoscopes to serious issues affecting our community. We are proud of the fact that from obituaries to feature stories about the interesting people in our community, we have a wealth of information to offer five days a week.
We’re one of more than 100 newspapers within the state press association that perform a similar public service.
We are honored to have served this part of the Upper Cumberland for the past 118 years, and we value your readership as we continue to publish the information and stories you care about.
Online: https://www.crossville-chronicle.com/
___
Jan. 20
The Crossville Chronicle on school meal programs:
There were 2,140 children in Cumberland County who wondered if they would have enough food to eat during 2017 - 20.5% of children in our community.
That’s the latest data from the Map the Meal Gap project from Feeding America, which provides county-level information on food insecurity across the country. Food insecurity means there are times when children do not have access to enough food to lead a healthy, active life.
And while many of those children were likely eligible for nutrition programs, the data found 17% were likely in homes that made too much to qualify for help.
That’s why programs like the free school breakfast, community eligibility provision and summer feeding programs in our school nutrition program are so important.
Every school in this community offers students breakfast to help them start their day with a full stomach.
Under community eligibility, schools offer all students - regardless of their income - a free lunch. To qualify for this program, 50% of the students must participate in a means-tested government program, such as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Eight schools in the county offer this program.
But not every school qualifies for the free lunch program. There, some families may struggle to pay for lunch. Our school system works hard to help these families by connecting them with resources and making sure they apply for free or reduced meal prices, but like that data says, not everyone who needs help qualifies.
And the teachers and cafeteria staff work hard to ensure no child goes hungry or is shamed because they can’t afford their lunch.
Last week, the Crossville Noon Rotary Club stepped up to help wipe the slate clean on school lunch debt. Their donation of $3,500 ensures that children and some school staff can focus on learning, not their hunger.
Other programs also help make sure students don’t go hungry over the weekend, with backpacks of food and school food pantries available to fill that meal gap.
Thank you to our schools, our teachers, our cafeteria staff and the students and community who support those feeding programs. And thank you to the Rotarians who stepped up to meet a vital need.
Online: https://www.crossville-chronicle.com/
Please read our comment policy before commenting.