No WhiteWash!

The recession has hit Tennessee with business and personal Bankruptcies.  Below in the table is the bankruptcy by chapter and type for 2nd quarter of 2009.  Note the rank that Tennessee has by clicking on the highlighted link in blue. In the data below, Chapter 13 personal bankruptcy is the third worst in the nation in Tennessee.

Elected officials should think twice about raising taxes, funding a pet project at taxpayers expense.

**Source: Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts

This blog was started in February 2007 with the title of “Kingsport, TN Government”.  The name was later changed to “No WhiteWash!”, a name less focused on one local government.  We are still focused on Kingsport, TN Government and have expanded into issues that affect Sullivan County, North East Tennessee area, and the State as they are in a lot of case interrelated.

The direction of this blog for the future will be for the average citizen and not the elites who choose to run things for their own self-interest.  There will be no favoritism toward a political party in this blog.  WARNING:  If you are a elected official or running for office and make statements that you can’t back up or not exactly telling the full story, then this blog will expose them.  If you are running for office or an elected official who wants to use this blog for political advantage, then I would suggest you go elsewhere to peddle your story.  This blog is for the people!!

This little blog now has readership that is around 1,000 visits per day and that number could be much higher because other blogs re-publish this blog posts to their blogs.  There have been over 1,700 posts written in this blog since inception and the posts are not forgotten as they slide down the page as newer post take their place on the first page.  The search traffic coming to this blog is very large because this blog posts are indexed on all of the major search engines (Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, etc).  All of the posts go into a RSS news feed where readers can read the posts without having to visit the blog.  The folks using the RSS feed amounts to many hundred per day.

Over the last few years I have seen more local people become more vocal about expressing their views concerning how the local governments operate.  They express their views in the comments areas in the local newspapers, blogs, social media sites (Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, etc)  There have been many local blogs that have been started in the North East Tennessee area in the last few years and I think we will see more of it.

Blogs do get a lot of readership.  The Tea Party protests got their start from blogs and with very little help from local media.

The Show blog is another local blog that has come online and also has it own local talk radio show on Monday and Thursday from 6-8pm on WMCH AM1260.  Local issues are discussed in this radio talk show and in many cases the posts from this blog are discussed and the radio talk show does allow callers to phone in and express their views. 

I have learned much about the City of Kingsport government on how they operate.  The research that I have done has me very concerned about how the “elites” control the city and do things that are in their self-interests.  I do have a concern about their lack to fully understand the problems the area has such as low median wages, declining population, high unemployment, lack of good paying jobs, and young adults leaving the area to find work, etc.

I also have a concern how the mayor selects political appointees to serve on different committees so he can be assured that he get what he wants.  The reporting in the Kingsport Times-News is almost always, in my view, protecting the city officials.  One has to understand that if they reported anything negative about the city, then it would reflect on the upper management at the Kingsport Times-News.  This is because there are many of the top management at the Times-News that are Mayor Dennis Phillips’ political appointees.

We could go on about how certain people decide who should run for political office and then campaign for them and put up the money for them to get elected.

We could talk about the Ridgefield County Club elites or look at the details of the spending of city money by the Kingsport Chamber of Commerce, but these could be posts for another day.

There have been many that have sent this blog information concerning the operation of our local governments and I want to say thank you.  Please continue reporting as you have in the past.

If you have anything to report concerning the below areas, feel free to use the email icon below to report it. The source of the information will be kept confidential.

• City of Kingsport, TN
• City of Bristol, TN
• Sullivan County, TN
• North East, TN
• Tennessee Government

Issues such as wasteful spending, local elections, annexation, ethics, crime, conflicts of interest, backroom deals, open government, abuse of taxpayer money, etc., are examples to report, but not limited to those listed.

Update:  Hawkins County commissioners met Monday night to try to finalize next year’s budget, which included a substantial property tax hike.  The Commission voted 16-4, with one abstaining, against the budget.

The Budget Committee will meet Tuesday morning to try to iron out a compromise.  The budget must be finalized and approved by October 1, and commissioners say a property tax hike is still on the table.

via Hawkins County Property Tax Hike Remains Up In The Air | TriCities.

Hawkins County is considering a 22 cent property tax increase which will put a wrinkle into the City of Kingsport plans for funding the King Medical School.  Kingsport has suggested that it would take about a 20 cent tax increase to fund its portion of the medical school.  The problem for Kingsport is that its city limits extend into Hawkins County and Kingsport has a tax rate for its part of Hawkins County. A Hawkins County rate increase of 22 cents and if Kingsport raises its rate 20 cents for the medical school would make the area unattractive for future development and a hardship on Hawkins County citizens.

The Kingsport portion of Hawkins County would have a rank as the 10th most expensive tax rate in Tennessee if the rate is increased 22 cents and Kingsport did not raise the rate.

I am against tax-payer funding of the King College Medical School.  See previous posts

Table 1. below shows the current tax rates for the county and the cities within the county.

Table 2. shows the proposed tax increase for the county (highlighted in yellow) and the 20 cent increase for the part of Hawkins County that is in the City of Kingsport.

If you need help on how to figure your property tax bill go the the following link.  How to Figure Your Property Tax Bill

ROGERSVILLE – Hawkins County commissioners will be considering a $91 million budget and 22-cent property tax hike when they meet Monday.

The property tax increase is estimated to generate slightly more than $1.6 million in additional revenue, with $880,000 of the new money earmarked for the sheriff’s office and jail budgets.

Under the spending plan, the sheriff’s office would add four new deputies and a secretary, with a jail administrative position and 19 additional guards hired to staff the new jail facility.

The commission meets at 7 p.m. in the main courtroom of the Hawkins County Courthouse.

Information about the meeting will be posted Monday night.

via The Rogersville Review – News Story – Budget, tax hike on Hawkins Commission agenda.

Table 1.

Table 2.

Update: This blog has sent the post below to 83 people via email or U.S.Mail that are in the list below.

Kingsport Board of Mayor and Alderman
Mayor of Sullivan County
Sullivan County Commissioners
Bristol City Council
Bluff City Mayor and Alderman
Kingsport Chamber of Commerce
Tennessee Legislators for North East TN
U.S. Congress Legislators for North East TN
Commissioner Matt Kisber- TN Economic & Community Development
Governor Phil Bredesen
Tennessee Candidates for Governor
NETWORKS Sullivan Partnership Board of Directors and Members

I am sure that the past and current elected leaders will want this graph and the facts below to disappear because it reflects on their lack of response to address the problem with Sullivan County and its cities in its declining population and other problems in the Sullivan County area.  This blog will continue to expose the facts and there will be ”No Spin” and “No WhiteWash! of the data presented on this blog.

Top Eleven Largest Counties Population – 1980 to 2030

Data for the graph and the table below is from the following links State and County Population and Population Projections for the State of Tennessee

Other Facts

• In 1980, Sullivan County was the fifth largest county and it is estimated that in 2030, Sullivan County will be the eleventh largest county.
• The population of Sullivan County is an older population and the median age for Sullivan County is 42.9 years, Tennessee is 37.2 years and Florida is 39.8 years.  The Percent 65 Years and Over for Kingsport is 20.1%, Bristol is 19.5%, Sullivan County is 17.8% and Florida is 17.4%.
• Sullivan County and its cities, (Kingsport and Bristol) have a large number of young adults leaving the area.
• The death rate for Sullivan County is more than the birth rate.
• Sullivan County birth rate is low as compared to the state.
• Sullivan County only gained 852 people between years 2000 to 2008 which gave a net gain of 0.56 percent growth.
• Average Household median income is low for the area.  Kingsport is $34,391, Bristol is $36,454, and Sullivan County is $37,559. Two people in the same household making the new Federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour would make $30,160 per year.
• The percent of poverty for those 65 and older in Sullivan County, TN is 12.2%, Kingsport is 11.6%, and Bristol is 16.2%. These percentages are 2007 numbers and could be higher due to the recession.  The household median income for 65 and older in Sullivan County is $28,070.
• The poverty level for Kingsport is 18%, Bristol is 14.6%, and Sullivan County is 15.8%.  These percentages are 2007 numbers and could be higher due to the recession.  Poverty level for 2009 is defined for a person’s income to be $10,830 per year.
• Kiplinger’s Personal Finance survey rates the Kingsport MSA as having the highest cost of living, low median income and the worst job growth out of 10 major cities/metro areas in Tennessee.
• The area unemployment is high with Kingsport having the highest unemployment – See link for more details Jobs/Unemployment
• The Republican Party has continuously controlled Tennessee’s 1st Congressional District since 1881.  It appears for the most part that most of the new jobs are going to the more Democrat Party area.
• Kingsport has publicly stated that they would like to make Kingsport a destination city for visitors to the area while not addressing the real problems the area faces.  Spending the tax payers’ money to obtain a short-cut to generate revenue, in my view, does not help the average citizen. Spending money for a conference center expansion and aquatic center will not solve the area’s problems.  The aquatic center will not make any difference when one needs a job and there is not one available locally.  By the same token, if a job exists in the area and you need it badly, then the aquatic center does not enter the picture.
• The area has one of the largest employers (Eastman Chemical) in the state and a major tourist attraction (Bristol Nascar Race).  It appears that the elected leaders have become complacent about finding new good paying jobs because these two businesses have not increased the population and/or stopped the exit of young adults leaving the area.
• Kingsport is the largest city in Sullivan County and is proud of its reputation for having good schools.  Dobyns-Bennett High School has been named by Newsweek magazine as one of the top high schools in the country.  Having great schools apparently is not enough to keep the young adults from leaving the area in search of good paying jobs.
• Kingsport has built a Higher Education Center, but I have a concern that there will not be the needed jobs in the area for those who finish their education.  I am for education, but with the large number of students, and with nothing major coming in as far as jobs, many will leave to look elsewhere for jobs.  Increasing the percentage of college graduates in the area is good, but the percentage of college graduates might be skewed because of the number of college educated young people leaving the area and the fact that the large percentage of older folks that do not have higher education.
• It appears that local cities are striving to get new retail business into the area as an easy way to increase revenue.  Having retail is a quick way to get revenue, but as retail increases in a given city, then the share that retailers gets decreases because they have to share retail sales among many retailers.  I think a better approach would be to increase the flow of money into the area via good paying jobs, which would  provide for longer term stability for these retailers and this will also increase the standard of living for city/county citizens.
• Because of declining revenues or increased spending, cities in Sullivan County have chosen to annex new areas for the tax revenue, increase their population, and to enable the city to borrow more because of the increased asset value.  This helps the cities, but decreases the already low standard of living for the citizens.

Conclusion

The facts presented above may concern some that bringing out these issues will cause folks or businesses to avoid the North East Tennessee area.  The facts presented above are available to anyone who desires to do research.  I am sure that any large company would do their research before deciding to invest in Sullivan County.  I also feel that “enough is enough” and the issues need to be up-front and center stage to be addressed.  No more hiding the issues….deal with them head on so the region will begin to respond economically. Good paying jobs in my view is what is needed to restore what has been lost.

There must be lots of jobs and a few hundred will not do.  It should be a broad mix of jobs that would be attractive to different types of workers who have different skills or educational training.

We need elected officials that will not cater to special interests groups or use get rich quick schemes to get revenue into the local government.  Get the money flowing into the area via good paying jobs and then the region might become attractive to those job seekers. The current and past economic development efforts are not working and efforts need to be stepped up and action is needed now.  If the economic development people are not capable of delivering results, then they need to be replaced.  If local politics are hindering the economic development efforts, then that needs to be exposed and addressed.

If you are an elected official or economic development person and your views or lack of vision is holding up the region from rebounding, then you need to step aside.

What you can do?

• Go to BMA and Sullivan County Commissioners meetings and make your views known.
• Talk to your BMA or Sullivan County Commissioners individually.
• Talk to your neighbors and friends and get them involved.
• Send this post via email to your friends and neighbors.
• Talk to your U.S  Congress Legislators. and Tennessee Legislators
• Vote in the next election for those that can address the area’s problems
• Keep the pressure on the elected officials.
• Write letters to the editors at the local newspapers (Kingsport and Bristol).  Let this blog know if your letter to the editor is refused and provide a copy via the “You Report It! menu item at the top of the this page.
• Participate in local talk radio shows to express your views.
• Start your own blog.
• Now is the time to voice your concerns before taxes are raised in the future

Comments are Welcome

Please feel free to add comments via this blog

Below is the household median income for the top 20 Tennessee Counties that had the largest retail sales.  The household median income is for the county and may be different for cities within the county.  Below is the household median Income for Sullivan County cities

Kingsport  $34,391  – Individuals below poverty level 18.0%

Bristol  $36,454 – Individuals below poverty level 14.6%

Sullivan County – Individuals below poverty level 15.8%

Below is the household income distribution for Kingsport and the household median income for Kingsport is $34,391.  In the graph below there are 2,636 people who are living in poverty.

I would be embarrassed to be a current or past elected leader or those having been responsible for economic development in Sullivan County, Kingsport, and Bristol Tennessee.  The ongoing problem of several decades with the young adults leaving the area and the fact that Sullivan County and its cities have an older population has not been addressed to stop the pattern of a declining population.

I am sure that our elected leaders would not want to publicly discuss this subject, but this blog will continue to make the public aware of the situation.  In my opinion, having a company like Eastman Chemical and the Bristol Nascar Race is good for the area, but having them has made the area complacent and the leaders have not done enough to get other good paying jobs here.

There may be some who may be wondering why approach this subject because of the negative impact it may have on future people moving to the area.  My answer is that there are about two decades of not addressing this problem with results.  Enough is enough!!  Let’s get it out front and center so the citizens/leaders can understand the problems and find solutions.

The graph below is from the State of Tennessee and gives a comparison for Sullivan County against Tennessee.  The time span for the graph is from 1990 to 2000 and shows that Sullivan did lag behind in the number of young people residing in the county.  Note in the graph that it appears that the age bracket 18-24 shows that our young folks are leaving the area and the age bracket 25-44 only had a 0.1% increase.  The 65 and over age bracket in Sullivan County did better than the state with a 19.1 percent increase.

The last line in the graph gives the county rank and Sullivan County did not fare well.  In the 18-24 age bracket, Sullivan County came in as having the worst rank of all 95 counties in the state.  The 65 and over age bracket gave Sullivan County a better rank of 28.

Population Growth Rate (1990 to 2000) was 6.6% which gave Sullivan County a rank of 90 out of 95 counties.  The growth rate for years 2000- 2008 is .56%

*A rank of 1 indicates the best condition.

Population Growth by Age Bracket, 1990 to 2000

Using more current data from the U.S. Census shows that Sullivan County and its cities have a low birth rate, young adults are still leaving the area, high median age and a high percentage of older adults age 65 and over.

The age distribution graph below on the left shows that Kingsport has a greater number of young adults leaving the area and has more older adults.

The graph on the right compares Tennessee, Florida, and Sullivan County.  Most folks have an impression that Florida has a lot of retirement-age people, but Sullivan County has a larger percentage of older adults.

2005-2007 age distribution data from U. S. Census

The City of Kingsport uses a method of water meter turn on and off to keep track of its movement in the population.  This method is flawed since the young adults are more likely living with their parents and would not be picked up by the water meter method when they leave the area.

Sullivan County death rate is higher than the birth rate and the county gained only 850 in population in the time span of 2000 to 2008.  The gain has come from new arrivals to the area.

Sullivan County is considered one of the larger populated counties in Tennessee.  In 1994, Sullivan County was the fifth most populated county.  Because of the growth in other counties and the declining population in Sullivan County, the rank of Sullivan County is estimated to be 11 in year 2030.

County Population Estimates

Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Counties: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2008

Tennessee Counties are ranked in the table below as percent growth in the highlighted column.  Sullivan County growth rate was .56 percent and gained 852 people over an eight year period.  Sullivan County rank was 75 and Shelby County rank was 72.

Data is from U.S. Census and you can see data for all states by going to the following link.

County Population Estimates

Mac McLean wrote an excellent article Many Officials Confused about Disclosure Forms’ Rules in the Bristol Herald Courier. Mac McLean did some great research and I encourage you to read the entire article. 

The law requires that they report all private income, but not what they receive for serving in the public office they hold. The law states that as a general rule, any private income that must be reported to the IRS should be included on the form, including wages, capital gains, lecture fees, dividends, business income, bank account interest, payments from annuities, and trust income.

…..Sullivan County Commissioner Buddy King of Bristol said he “filled out the form according to how it read,” but when shown a copy, he said he didn’t remember filling one out.

Read more via Many Officials Confused about Disclosure Forms’ Rules | TriCities.

This blog on Feb 23, 2009 posted the following concerning Commissioner Buddy King.  Sullivan County Commissioner ethics exposed

There was another Commissioner that voted for the above resolution whose name is James “Buddy” King from Bristol. Apparently, open government is not important to Commissioner James “Buddy” King for wanting to discuss the “peoples’ business” in private.

Upon checking the “Statement of Disclosure of Interests” submitted by Commissioner James “Buddy” King, there are some areas of concern.

The 2009 “Statement of Disclosure of Interest” filed by Commissioner James “Buddy” King on January 14, 2009, shows no income, investments, etc.

2009 Statement of Disclosure of Interests (ss-8005) (filed 2009-01-14) Witness by Larry Bailey

The 2008 “Statement of Disclosure of Interest” filed by Commissioner James “Buddy” King on January 14, 2008, again shows no income, investments, etc. and is essentially the same as year 2009, except that James “Buddy” King was his own witness.

2008 Statement of Disclosure of Interests (ss-8005) (filed 2008-01-14) Witness by James “Buddy” King

It is very unusual that Commissioner James “Buddy” King would not have any income to declare on his 2009, 2008 disclosures filed with the State. However, in the 2007 “Statement of Disclosure of Interest” for Commissioner James “Buddy” King, it gets interesting.

On page 916 in the link 2007 Disclosure of Interests for Local Office Holders and Candidates it states the following sources of income, investments, and lobbying activities.

Sources of Income

SOCIAL SECURITY, ORNL RETIREMENT, MATERIALS ENGINEERING & TESTING Investments

TEAMSTERS RETIREMENT, STATE RETIREMENT (SULLIVAN COUNTY)

Lobbying:

WALMART, BB&T BANK,CSX RAILROAD, SPRINT/NEXTEL

Why are you not disclosing your income, investments, lobbying activities for the last two years Commissioner James “Buddy” King? This information is the publics’ business and plus, I think it is the law that it needs to be disclosed.

I find it particularly interesting to find that Commissioner James “Buddy” King is an elected official of Sullivan County and yet was involved and could still be involved in lobbying activities.

Sullivan County, Tennessee and its cities have a problem with a declining population.  This has been a problem since year 2000 and Sullivan County comes out as the loser as keeping the population.  Elected leaders need to ask some hard questions why this is occurring and make changes to stop this trend.  Elected leaders may be faced with cutting services or raise taxes because of reduced revenue coming in.  However, cutting services or raising taxes and not addressing the problem would show that the elected leaders is not capable of handling the problem.

In the table below are the top 11 Tennessee Counties and their population rank based on state population estimates.  Sullivan County goes from a year 2000 rank of 6 to a rank of 11 in year 2030.

Below are graphs for selected East Tennessee county and city population estimates.  In the “County Population Estimates”, all counties are showing growth while Sullivan County is showing a decline.

The “City Population Estimates” graph shows population growth for all cities except Sullivan County cities, Kingsport and Bristol.

Data for the above is from the State of Tennessee via the links below.

Population Projections for the State of Tennessee

TACIR, in conjunction with The University of Tennessee Center for Business and Economic Research, has published a new report containing population projections for Tennessee cities and counties in five-year intervals from 2010 to 2030. The purpose of the projections is to aid in local planning efforts, such as those outlined in Public Chapter 1101 (PC1101). The complete report and tables are available below.

Population Projections for the State of Tennessee, 2010 to 2030

Population Projection Tables HTML | EXCEL

• Aggregate Projections for Tennessee HTML | EXCEL
• Aggregate Projections for Tennessee Counties HTML | EXCEL
• Aggregate Projections for Municipalities* Arrayed by County HTML | EXCEL
• Aggregate Projections for Municipalities* Alphabetically HTML | EXCEL
• Aggregate Projections for Municipalities* by Development District HTML | EXCEL
• Aggregate Projections for Tennessee Counties within MSAs HTML | EXCEL

*Does not include the effects of annexations after 2000.

Here are the 361 U.S. metropolitan areas that Kiplinger’s Personal Finance considered for its list of Best Cities: It’s All About Jobs. See where your city ranks by sorting our criteria. The Cost of Living Index is based on 100 being the national average. To learn more about the creative class, click here. Salary Growth is the increase in household income from 2004 to 2008. Employment Growth is the growth in jobs on a per capita basis from 2000 to 2007. (Source: Kevin Stolarick of the Martin Prosperity Institute)

Click on the following link to see all 361 U.S. metropolitan areas .  Full City Rankings 2009

Best and Worst Cities in Tennessee

Below is data for Tennessee metropolitan areas that has been extracted from the list of 361 cities.

The data for a given column below that is highlighted in Green is the best for the Tennessee metropolitan areas mentioned below.  If the data is in Red, then that metropolitan area has the lowest or worst data for the metropolitan areas below.

The rank is stated below within parenthesis ( ) and shows the rank as compared for all 361 U.S. metropolitan areas.  A rank of 1 would be the best and a rank of 361 would be the worst

In the table below, we can see that the Kingsport area has the highest cost of living, the lowest household income, and the worst job growth.