Board of Commissioners Work Session 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Board of Commissioners Work Session scheduled for 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, July 31, 2012.  Agenda

Political Sign Content Not Regulated

The City has been made aware of a complaint filed with the Shelby County District Attorney's Office regarding political signs and the upcoming municipal school referendum.  The essence of the complaint was that some signs relating to the referendum were illegal because they did not contain disclaimer language indicating who had paid for the signs.  While the motivations of those filing the complaint are not known at this point in time, the City is concerned about any activity that may have a chilling effect on public participation, especially as regards an issue of such importance to the City as the municipal schools referendum.

The City Attorney has communicated directly with the Attorney General's Office and the State Coordinator of Elections regarding this matter.  Anonymous issue-oriented speech (e.g. signs encouraging citizens to vote one way or another in the upcoming referendum) is protected under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and as such, no disclaimer is required on signs encouraging a vote in one way or another on the municipal schools referendum.  Please contact City Hall if anyone tries to convince you that your sign is illegal because it does not contain disclaimer language. 

Putting Up a Political Sign? Please Read This!

Lakeland Sign Regulations especially relating to temporary political campaign signs are:

Signs on medians, intersections, or placed illegally on traffic control signs or public property (street right of ways, parks etc.) or, common open space, unoccupied property etc. are illegal signs and are picked up immediately. Common Open Space owned by the Home Owners Association etc. is not considered occupied property.

Political signs are allowed under the following circumstances:

-One sign per candidate or issue on an occupied lot.  (with permission of the owner).

-Placed no closer than 15 feet to the edge of the pavement (or 5 feet behind the sidewalk), whichever is greater.

-Cannot be erected more than 30 days before Early Voting and must be removed within three days after the election.

-Signs cannot exceed 5 square feet in area per side and cannot exceed 48” in height.


For specific information contact Neighborhold Services/ Code Enforcement at City Hall, 867-2717.

We appreciate the cooperation of all residents in observing these sign regulations.  Lakeland residents are welcome to express their opinion by political signs.  In fairness to all candidates and all issues these regulations are enforced on a regular basis.  Signs on public property are immediately picked up as traffic hazards. 

A letter from Arlington Mayor Wissman

(NOTE:  After some questions about the future of Lakeland and Arlington schools, Mayor Wissman sent this letter to a Lakeland resident concerning Arlington's view of the future of Lakeland and Arlington Schools. Since a substantial number of Lakeland children attend schools located in Arlington, and we have received a lot of questions about this, this letter is being republished for the information of Lakeland residents.  Mayor Wissman is also a member of the Shelby County Board of Education)

ARLINGTON MAYOR SAYS 'FACTS, NOT RUMORS AND FICTION"

After reading former Mayor Bomprezzi's flyer about the school issue, I am extremely concerned about the message he is spreading.  Although there are many unknowns in this whole scenario, both for unified or municipal schools, everyone must really consider the facts.  This should be about education, not politics or money.  The question shouldn't be "can we afford it?", but more of "can we afford not to do it?".  Two issues any realtor will tell you affect property values are crime and schools.....where good schools are located, crime is usually down, and vice versa. Our children are our future leaders, and they need the best education possible  to compete with the global economy. 
 

I can assure you we, the suburban mayors as a group, have done our homework.  We hired Southern Educational Strategies (SES) to let us know what it will cost and how to move towards the creation of municipal schools.  We know how much funding we will receive per pupil from the county and the state.  In comparison, it is very close to what Shelby County Schools (SCS) has been receiving for quite some time.  We know how many students are in our schools now, and that we want to continue to educate those same children....whether they live in our municipal boundaries or not. 

Arlington and Lakeland have much in common, and some consider us more of family than neighbors.  Arlington needs Lakeland, and Lakeland needs Arlington.  Mayor Bomprezzi's comments that "Lakeland will be REQUIRED to build a middle and high school" could not be further from the truth.  In fact, many of his comments are misleading and are just more of an opinion than fact.  Just because a municipality has its own school system, doesn't mean you have to have an elementary, middle or high school.  Other systems in the state have shared resources to educate children when facilities are not available.  A great example of that is SCS educated children of Memphis for years in Chimneyrock Elementary since MCS did not have a facility for those children.  The money follows the child, so it really isn't a burden for another system to educate children.  I do think that is why there is such opposition to municipal schools, because many feel this will be taking money out of the new unified system. 

I know there are people in the municipalities that are on limited incomes and/or do not have children, but education is a key component for the success of a community. I challenge Mayor Bomprezzi or anyone else that opposes municipal schools to at least read the SES report....ours is on the Town of Arlington website.  Read the facts, case studies, past precedents, financial documents, etc... and come up with your own conclusions.  This is too important to get wrong!

Don't let fear tactics ruin the future of your city.  Again, I'm not telling people how to vote, but how to get educated on the facts.  Bomprezzi stated " LAKELAND CHILDREN DESERVE THE BEST AND SHELBY COUNTY SCHOOLS ARE THE BEST" which is true for now, but the SCS we all know only has 1 year left in its current existence.  The leadership will change, and your suburban representation will be minimal.  In fact, changes are already occurring in SCS prior to the merger that concern faculty and parents.  All the children in this county deserve the best, but is that in a system of 150,000, or in smaller systems where your voice and concerns make a difference?  It's in the hands of the voters now, not the elected officials....so only time will tell.

Mike Wissman
Arlington Mayor 

Three Property Tax Goals

Lakeland’s Board of Commissioners have  unanimously voted to set a property tax for the first time in the City’s 35-year history. Having recently experienced a 50 percent decrease in sales tax revenue, due the closing of the Lakeland Kroger and the effects of a dwindling economy since 2008, the Board felt this was the right decision, though a difficult one.

This property tax will help continue the quality of life Lakeland residents have grown accustomed to over the years. With rising needs to improve our infrastructure – bridges, roads and municipal recreation areas for families, among other needs – this tax will help provide the revenue needed to address these concerns. 

The new property tax rate will be 85 cents per $100 of assessed property valuation. The new property tax will generate more than $2 million annually for the City. 

Based on state law, the property tax period actually started on Jan. 1, 2012.  The City is arranging with the Shelby County Trustees Office to collect the taxes.  Residents will get official notices in the mail regarding the amount due and actual due date. 

Objectives of the Recently Approved Property Tax

Three goals that can be reached through a property tax 

A resident at a recent meeting asked what three projects/objectives would not be possible (from a financial standpoint) without property tax revenues, not counting a Lakeland Municipal School System. 

This is an excellent question.  I am noting three achievements  that, in my opinion, the Board of Commissioners considered when determining that a property tax for capital improvements was necessary. 

1. Protecting Our Quality of Life  

Over the past several years, the decline of economic activity at the Lakeland Factory Outlet Mall and the relocation of the Lakeland Kroger have severely squeezed City financials, which have historically depended substantially on the retail sales tax. Sales tax revenues decreased by approximately 50 percent from 2006 to 2012, roughly $600,000 per year. During the same time period, development activity was virtually nonexistent after years of six figure revenues from development fees.

Could the City have survived on the a minimal  “survival budget”? Yes, but the quality of life for Lakeland residents could have suffered as infrastructure deteriorated faster than the City could afford to make the necessary repairs and implement much-needed projects.  

Any city is a major provider of quality-of-life services. These include a range of amenities including quality streets, recreation facilities and adequate storm drainage. The City of Lakeland takes this role very seriously, and we promote our quality of life as a top reason to live here and do business within our limits. Our tagline says it all: Where quality of life is a way of life.”

2.  Kicking the Can

Another major consideration of the Board of Commissioners was that the City is facing capital-intensive projects that relate both to the quality of life and the maintenance of property values.

Delaying these projects would be merely passing these issues on to a future Board of Commissioners and future generations of Lakeland residents. The current Board wanted to face the situation head on and take immediate action.

These major projects include:

• The Canada Road/I-40 Interchange.

• Extension of Beverle Rivera Drive to Huff and Puff/Seed Tick, as well as the traffic signal at Canada Road and Beverle Rivera/Davies Plantation Road:  This will eliminate the traffic hazards at Huff and Puff and Canada Road. 

• New Canada Road: The current Canada Road is inadequate for the traffic. The New Canada Road project has been planned since 1992, and the City has the opportunity to fund this project with a federal grant with a 20 percent match. This means the City is getting an estimated $12 million project for 80 percent off if we take advantage of the federal grant. It is still a cost to the City of $2.4 million, and costs will only increase if not taken care of soon.

• Street and storm drainage repairs: The City engineer has noted numerous street and storm drainage failures. Through effective use of City personnel with some added contract work, the cost of street repairs has been substantially reduced, but it is still expensive. Street overlays and major renovations are necessary throughout the City.

• Park and recreation improvements: The City soccer and baseball fields for our children are woefully inadequate. The City also has undeveloped parks. These play a major role in the quality of life as we cultivate a safe, fun environment for all families choosing to live in our City.

3.  Maintenance of Property Values

During the discussion on the possible establishment of a Lakeland Municipal School System, I fielded many calls and comments about a locally controlled school system helping maintain local property values, ability to sell property, etc. 

This got me thinking about the maintenance of our existing infrastructure and neighborhoods. Factors in maintaining solid property values also include good streets, quality civic and physical infrastructure, recreational opportunities, economic diversity and public safety.

These high-quality essentials are not free; there are costs associated with them. For a house valued at $200,000, the taxed value is 25 percent or $50,000. A property tax rate of 85 cents per $100 of assessed value yields $425 per year in revenue for the City. Simply put, this revenue is invested right back into the City to help maintain those quality-of-life essentials.

I don’t have to go too far from Lakeland to see the terrible result of failing to maintain infrastructure for rapidly growing communities. I feel the Board of Commissioners reviewed the benefits and the costs and then determined that the time was right for a tough decision to be made. 

Because of the commitment of Lakeland’s citizens who have chosen to stay here and enjoy the high quality of life offered, others have taken notice and have decided to also make Lakeland their home. The creation of a property tax will make it possible to continue providing the quality of life that you have grown accustomed to in our City. 

We will continue to keep you updated as more progress is made to make our City the best it can be. 

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Lakeland Schools Resource Center

Lakeland Schools Resource Center.  Central location for information on Lakeland schools and the election

Is Lakeland Municipal School System financially possible?

Southern Educational Strategies study indicating Lakeland Municipal  School System is both financially feasible and possible!

Get the facts and then decide!

http://tn-lakeland.civicplus.com/index.aspx?NID=179

Lakeland Municipal School Information!

This link is for information on the possible Lakeland Municipal Schools.  This is a flyer and a presentation that contains information on the upcoming election.

Information prepared by a consultant that provided information to the Lakeland Board of Commissioners finding that establishment of a Lakeland Municipal School System is both feasible and affordable is available at www.lakelandtn.gov.