How the Recession Affects Robertson County

As we emerge from the most current budget cycle, one thing we must keep in mind is the upcoming property tax appraisal/assessment process – and, succinctly, how this will affect the Robertson County tax base.

Check out this piece by TCCA Executive Director David Connor as relates to the recession and its overall impact on our collective tax bases.

On September 27, 2011, the Tennessee County Commissioners Association had a regional meeting here in Springfield, Robertson County, Tennessee. The topic of the re-appraisals came up. Quite frankly, several of our sister counties that are going through the process are facing dire situations – including Williamson County.

Upcoming Economic Development Workshops

There are Economic Development Workshops scheduled later this month presented by County Technical Assistance Service (CTAS) and the Tennessee County Commission Association (TCCA).

I look forward to attending the workshop in Franklin on August 24^th.

Waiving/Waving to NCLB

Here is an interesting post by Tennessee County Commission Association (TCCA) Executive Director David Connor.

I know that those in education will likely be optimistic the news that Tennessee is apparently an “example” of a state deserving a waiver from No Child Left Behind (NCLB).

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan today cited Tennessee as an example of a state that has "done a great job" in setting education standards and deserving of a waiver from No Child Left Behind.

Acts Affecting County Government

For anyone interested in recently enacted Acts that affect County Government, CTAS provides the following link.

From TCCA Executive Director David Connor:

This publication contains summaries of the public and private acts affecting county government that were passed by the General Assembly this year. These summaries are intended to give county officials notice of changes in the laws affecting their offices. Prior to taking action based on these new laws, the actual text of the law should be reviewed.

County Health Rankings

If you are like me, you continued to hear about the county health rankings that were released this week.

But if you were like me, you may not have not known how they were compiled, or just what they meant in detail…

Robertson County’s own Scott Raynes (of NorthCrest Medical Center) has an op-ed in The Tennesseean that helps break these numbers down.

TCCA Executive Director David Connor shares some additional information, and also a link that has a county-by-county break down of the rankings themselves.

For those who are curious, Robertson County ranked 9^th.

Here’s how our neighbor counties fared:

Sumner                   - 2^nd

Wilson                   - 6^th

Montgomery         - 10^th

Davidson              - 13^th

Cheatam              - 21^st

Dickson               - 31^st

2010 Census: More Notes & Picture Graph

This post on the 2010 Census results last week was a very popular post here at ‘From the Blackpatch.’

More and more data continues to emerge as relates to population information. TCCA Executive Director David Connor had a follow-up post on more census data.

Check out the link to this picture-graph. It shows the percentage growth for counties in Tennessee. It is quite interesting to note the growth in and around Middle Tennessee. It is one of the first that I have seen to picture Robertson County’s growth.

I would expect the trends to do nothing but continue in the next ten years here in north middle Tennessee.

Will we plan for this growth, or will we react to this growth?

County Population Estimates

TCCA Executive Director David Connor passes along “U.S. County Population Estimates.”

TCCA: Education Workshop Explained

The TCCA is offering this seminar: “K-12 Funding & Reform.”

This class is designed to inform county commissioners about how education funding in Tennessee is structured while also providing an overview of major developments in education reform currently being implemented in our school systems. The funding portion of the class will give officials a general understanding of the Basic Education Program formula which is used to determine state and local funding for K-12 school systems in Tennessee. The funding portion of the class will focus on how an individual system’s share of education funding is determined, including the calculation of local fiscal capacity, and describe the funding requirements that state law places on local funding bodies. The reform portion of the class will review recent developments in Tennessee related to k-12 education reform, including changes in school standards and assessments through the Tennessee Diploma Project, the impact of Race to the Top Grants, the First to the Top program, changes in teacher assessments and other possible reforms. The intent is to help county officials understand new changes that are currently being implemented and how they will impact the overall performance, operation and evaluation of their local school system. Dinner will be provided at 6:00 p.m. with the session offered from 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. Attendance is free for county officials.

Considering the news being bantered about education reform. This should prove topical and timely.

TCCA: Education Workshops

I am planning to attend a workshop in Franklin later in the month of March:

So far, the four evening education workshops for county commissioners have a total of 168 people registered. It's a great problem to have, but the Knox County meeting has maxed out at 75 and can take no more registrations.

These classes will be very informative for county commissioners and relate to one of the most important and complicated aspects of county government services and budgeting. I'm very excited and encouraged that there has been such a strong response to the classes.