09/30/2003

TAMCAR - For the first time ever, the Tennessee Association of Clerks and Recorders asked MTAS to coordinate its fall meeting. This was done, and done very well, by Jennifer and Kurt and the entire training team along with lots of other MTAS staff who came by to help. This included: Sally, Jim, Sandy, Linda, Ralph, Rex, Al, Sid, Margaret, Rick, and Sharon. The members were very complimentary in their evaluations and were particularly pleased that MTAS was handling the entire conference.

Utah - Rachel Coykendall and her husband will be moving to Utah in October. Her last day with the codes team will be Friday, October 24. All of us will miss her, but not as much as will Steve, Sandy, and Linda.

Email to Governor Bredesen - A group of 21 citizens sent the following email to Governor Bredesen:

To:	Phil.Bredesen@state.tn.us
Subject:	Please STOP this abuse of our hard earned tax dollars

Governor Bredesen, I expect my hard earned tax dollars to be used to provide government services. The link below is to a taxpayer funded campaign plan to raise sales taxes. This is NOT how our state tax money should be spent. I ask you to take immediate action to stop this abuse.
http://www.mtas.utk.edu/KnowledgeBase.nsf/0/5c44941cbe8b26f485256c01006b36a0?OpenDocument

The web site they referred to is a project we did for McMinnville last year when the city was considering an increase to the local option sales tax. Tom Ballard discussed with the Governor's Office that this kind of project was something MTAS has done since the 1960s. The Governor's Office asked that we respond and here's a copy of the email I sent this morning to all 21 of the citizens.

Thank you for your recent email to Governor Bredesen regarding sales taxes. We appreciate you taking the time to share your comments and understand your concerns. As the Executive Director of MTAS, the Governor asked that I respond to your specific questions and concerns.

The Municipal Technical Advisory Service (MTAS) at the University of Tennessee was created by the General Assembly in 1949 to provide assistance in a variety of areas related to the operation of incorporated cities in Tennessee. We provide advice and technical assistance in response to requests from the 348 cities and towns. In addition to the financing of municipal government operations, we also provide assistance in the areas of: general municipal operations, public works, water and wastewater operations, police and fire operations, and human resource management. We provide advice and technical assistance in many ways including: one-on-one consulting, publications, answers to telephone questions, training sessions, and information that we provide on our web site. We are always looking for the most cost effective way to provide services to cities. In a similar manner, we serve cities by helping them provide services to their citizens in the most efficient and effective manner possible.

State law mandates that citizens must vote in a referendum on any proposal by a city to increase a local option sales tax rate up to the legally authorized maximum. Cities that propose such a referendum frequently ask us for technical assistance on the election strategies to consider. We have been providing technical assistance to cities in this way since the local option sales tax law was passed in the 1960s, and this was the subject of the 2002 project for the City of McMinnville cited in your email. While we respond to these requests from cities, our staff is precluded from playing an active role in any campaign and as an agency we do not endorse any alternative presented in the referendum.

We appreciate your input and look forward to hearing from you again on other matters of importance to you and your community.

Bob Schwartz, Executive Director
University of Tennessee
Municipal Technical Advisory Service
120 Conference Center Building
Knoxville, TN 37996-4105
email: schwartzr@tennessee.edu
865/974-9829