No tax rate hike, but utility increases in proposed Oak Ridge budget
Donna Smith, The Oak Ridger
5 min read
For the fourth straight year, Oak Ridgers' property tax rate is likely to stay the same.
That's among the highlights of the proposed Fiscal Year 2025 budget presented by City Manager Randy Hemann to Oak Ridge City Council. A first reading and vote on the budget will take place June 3, followed by the second and perhaps final reading and approval of the budget on June 10.
Randy Hemann
Hemann has presented city council with a proposed budget that includes the property tax rate staying at $2.3136 per $100 of assessed value for the fourth straight year. In a telephone interview, the city manager pointed out that five years ago the council reduced the city property tax by 24 cents.
However, city residents will see increases in their sewer rate of 8.4% beginning in October, as approved last year by city council to generate money needed to repay loans for the $78.3 million water treatment plant, which is currently under construction. Also, electric rates will be evaluated after a TVA audit in the upcoming fiscal year and a rate increase will be proposed, according to the budget proposal summary. Hemann said the city got behind in the reporting of financial and electrical usage data to the Tennessee Valley Authority because of a change in the city's financial software. He said he doesn't know when the rate increase will be proposed.
Other highlights in the proposed budget:
A 3% cost of living raise in pay for city employees
A 2% step pay raise for city employees that qualify, which Hemann said will be given based on employees' merit.
Adding 10 full-time, two part-time and four seasonal employees, plus reclassifying three employee positions
Increasing the budget for paving city streets to $1.7 million from the previous average of $1.2 million a year
$250,000 for due diligence and purchasing land for a new animal shelter
$250,000 for due diligence and buying land to replace Fire Station No. 2, which is currently located on the east end of the Oak Ridge Turnpike
$50,000 for the analysis of options for the Oak Ridge school administration's request for a new elementary school on the city's west end because of increasing enrollment
The outdoor pool reopened May 24. But the 80-year-old Oak Ridge pool has structural problems and is losing 100,000 to 110,000 gallons of water a day when the pool is in operation, according to city officials. Chlorine cannot be circulated throughout the pool. Consultants hired by the city to come up with three options for renovating the pool and the surrounding area came back with those options and estimated price tags of $21.9 million to $28.9 million.
Hemann said the pool's basin has already been replaced once since it was built in 1944 and extensive work is needed.
"Those were really good proposals," Hemann said of the three options presented to city council by Kimley-Horn and Associates, the consulting firm. He pointed out that a lot of citizen input was received on what people want in the outdoor pool, which he called one of the key features of Oak Ridge.
New fire station, new school
Oak Ridge Fire Chief Travis Solomon has said Fire Station No. 2, 609 Oak Ridge Turnpike on the east end of Oak Ridge Turnpike in front of Home Depot, has serious foundation problems and the fire department has outgrown it. A replacement fire station for the southeastern portion of the city is needed, he said. A land swap between the owner of land located behind the east-end McDonald's restaurant and the city has been discussed publicly. Hexa Builders LLC would like to build a multi-level building on the city-owned parking lot at the corner of East Tennessee Avenue and Central Avenue near New China Palace. The multi-level building, as discussed in December, would have retail space on the bottom and housing on the other level or levels, with room for parking on the 1.29 acres.
Hemann said 4.66 acres owned by Hexa at 825 Oak Ridge Turnpike is still an option. He declined to identify other potential sites for the new fire station, as he did likewise for new west-end school sites. He said a couple of new school sites on the west end are possibilities - or at Linden Elementary.
"We will provide spaces for students," Hemann said in assurance to the public.
Randy Hemann speaks to the audience after he is sworn in as Oak Ridge, Tennessee's new city manager in November 2023.
With Oak Ridge's population growing, leaders of the city school system have recommended that a new elementary school be constructed on the west end and additions and renovations made to three of the current elementary schools and two middle schools. The recommendation also includes the eventual closing of the current Linden Elementary School because administrators said the current school site would be difficult - and expensive - to expand or become the site of a new school. The potential cost for a new school is $69.5 million, which doesn't include buying land.
Hemann said information to be provided by the school system's consultant looking at future population growth is key, with the big questions being what to do and how to fund it.
This is the first budget Hemann has presented to city council, having become city manager last November.
The Oak Ridger's News Editor Donna Smith covers Oak Ridge area news. Email her at dsmith@oakridger.com and follow her on Twitter@ridgernewsed.
