Greene County, TN, referendum on wheel tax 08/02/12

Maybe a freeze on mandated raises should be looked at and extended out to a more prosperous time. The economy is bad now and even the federal govt gets raises based on Cola- the cost of living indices!

I can guarantee that if Dr. Parkins was still director we wouldn't be closing any schools. At least he was loyal to ALL schools. Maybe that's what we need in a director, someone that treats all schools the same. This one hasn't even come to Glenwood to talk to the teachers and other employees the first time to talk to us as a group and explain where this idea came from. We just get impersonal internet transmissions...that's cold.

i say lets do away with sports in schools theres only a small percentage of students who play not the entire school we could save by not building new ball field ,fiels houses consession stands running buses all over green county sports uniforms,and paying coachs golly we could save a lot when its all totaled!we owe our kids a education not a ball game.why should tax payers pay for a small amount of students if they want to continue sports let the parents pay for it! come on i dont think we will ever have a studenr from greene county make the big league!!

i dont care if the schhol closes or not. I dont care if the sports programs are affected or not. What I care about is the fact that the government takes to much of my pay check every week. I voted early and voted no for the increase of wheel tax. I rent and I pay property taxes. It is part of my monthly rent. So those saying that because I dont own land, I dont pay property taxes are full of poop. Property taxes are going to raise the next reassessment so why would anyone vote yes to this and still get the property tax increase when the state steps in for reassessment.

VOTE NO TO THE TAX INCREASE!!!!

just me wrote:

i say lets do away with sports in schools theres only a small percentage of students who play not the entire school we could save by not building new ball field ,fiels houses consession stands running buses all over green county sports uniforms,and paying coachs golly we could save a lot when its all totaled!we owe our kids a education not a ball game.why should tax payers pay for a small amount of students if they want to continue sports let the parents pay for it! come on i dont think we will ever have a studenr from greene county make the big league!!

Brilliant! Sports costs lots of money (the 585,000 field house for example). That money could have kept Glenwood open for a year and given time to get someone in that office to better manage that budget so no school has to close. STop forcing the taxpayers to pay for all your raises, all your benefits if you are an individual, and the little reimburseable ways you give them even more money. How about what the benefits, holidays, and salaries of all the other people are? Didn't they give everyone a raise and bonus last year? Didn't the county commission tell them that they shouldn't give raises to the other employees because they would have that expense to pay this year. I believe I read they suggested you give that as a bonus also, that way if they didn't have the money to pay that as a raise this year they wouldn't already be in the hole? Also, didn't the director and board KNOW that some of the money they were giving as raises and bonuses wasn't going to be there this year; because the source of that money would be gone? Alot of unanswered questions???? The responsible thing to do, would be for this board to seriously without an agenda, figure out a way to cut that 1.2 million without closing a school, or cutting text books (good grief). They've got the whole system and communities in an uproar by threatening to close not just Glenwood, but West Pines, and Ottway, and possibly delay opening schools. What a mess...People we elect the board, and we give feedback on the director. We pay them. Speak up at the ballot box when it's time replace all of them.

just me wrote:

i say lets do away with sports in schools theres only a small percentage of students who play not the entire school we could save by not building new ball field ,fiels houses consession stands running buses all over green county sports uniforms,and paying coachs golly we could save a lot when its all totaled!we owe our kids a education not a ball game.why should tax payers pay for a small amount of students if they want to continue sports let the parents pay for it! come on i dont think we will ever have a studenr from greene county make the big league!!

Right on all counts. Sports and all the extras should go before closing any school. Kirk does seem to know what the truth really is and she must think that people in the county are dumb. Well we are not and we don't appreciate or like what you are doing to us and our children. Your little piece of propaganda in the paper is just that.

That should have said "does not seem to know what the truth really is".

propaganda wrote:

<quoted text>
Right on all counts. Sports and all the extras should go before closing any school. Kirk does seem to know what the truth really is and she must think that people in the county are dumb. Well we are not and we don't appreciate or like what you are doing to us and our children. Your little piece of propaganda in the paper is just that.

That's right, it's all in how you ask the question. How about asking her and the board if they moved some teachers from the regular budget to that one time federal money line item. Then had to move those positions and salaries back to the regular budget this year, making a huge deficit in just that one area, then they say they used that money to pay for big bonuses for retirees, and that cost has to come back to this year's budget. Now we have maybe almost 800,000 in a deficit, now what else...hmmm...the paper says they gave a bonus and raise to everyone last year knowing they would have to pick the cost of that raise up in this budget...now that makes what....over a million dollars in a deficit....then I believe it was reported that they are without question going to just pick up a 9% insurance increase for EVERYONE..don't those people know that benefits are raises too? That would have to be in the hundreds of thousands. Oh, the paper reported that there were lots of step increases on top of the "mandated state" raise, insurance 9% increase, and stipends they throw around everywhere. I know a friend of mine who gets paid to teach, 2 stipends to coach, paid to attend inservices, plus retirement, dental, and vision insurance, health insurance and a few more things I can't remember. OH and work 9 months a year.But are most of you all getting these kind of benefits? I'm sure not..... Oh, I forgot, none of us would have a job without a teacher..... Kind of like Obama saying no small business owner got to where he is without government help. Please.....Oh yeah, I remember, she said they invest their retirement in the stock market, and if the retirement system loses money, taxpayers get to pay that back for them. So they never lose any money investing in the market, we do!! Someone please tell me all of this isn't true? No wonder school systems are broke all the time.......

I have nothing against teachers. Most of them are anxiously awaiting the start of a new year. They just want to do their job. But, you have a few people who control the 40 some million dollars that are taking better care of the adults, than they are the children. Replace them all.....

Nobody has anything against the teachers or the students. We want our education system to provide a quality education, not all the other stuff. We are sick and tired of the irresponsible spending. It is our money, paying those bills, and its way past time that the non-necessary spending stop. Make them work within the budget. Until they realize that there is a limited amount of funds, they will keep spending.

skippy wrote:

Nobody has anything against the teachers or the students. We want our education system to provide a quality education, not all the other stuff. We are sick and tired of the irresponsible spending. It is our money, paying those bills, and its way past time that the non-necessary spending stop. Make them work within the budget. Until they realize that there is a limited amount of funds, they will keep spending.

Couldn't have said it better.

Well cut Kirks and Mrs.Jones pay and everyone who got a Raise up in town that would help.They got a raise in July..Freeze their pay.They sure had no problem taken more money!

EVER BODY please go vote tomorrow AGINST wheel tax increaase lets send a message loud and clear were tired of tax hikes on wheel tax OR LAND!!! START cutting the fat out of the budget and leave our meager wages alone!!if they cant find any fat{haha} send out a questionaire to the tax payers we sure could give them some ideas what to cut!

just happened to remember dose anybody know what the heck happened to the lottery money thought it was suppose to go to schools? hadnt even heard the greeneville sun mention that...or our LEADERS

Greeneville will get half of it and they are already over budget.
The Greeneville school said they are going to use it for pay , that will lock it in forever, it has to be used to build only to not lock it in forever!
If Greeneville doesnt need it vote NO to wheel tax !
Hel NO

just me wrote:

just happened to remember dose anybody know what the heck happened to the lottery money thought it was suppose to go to schools? hadnt even heard the greeneville sun mention that...or our LEADERS

The lottery was setup to fund preschools and colleges. The school system doesn't receive any of the lottery money.

If citizens want to improve the economic situation in Greene County, then they had better invest in the educational system here. Companies won't invest in us, if we won't invest in our education!!!

Lottery money does NOT go to fund local school systems. It funds pre-K education programs and college scholarships. I'm so saddened that the majority of people here won't invest in our future. Why should our children give back to this community, if this community won't give to them!! Our best and brightest minds must leave this community in order to seeking viable livings elsewhere because Greene County seems to be satisfied with living in the 1950s.

The referendum to raise the county's wheel tax by $20 was defeated

I am not from Kingsport.