Just Shut Up And Pay Your Taxes!

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By Susan E. Gingrich [Special to The Tennessee Conservative] –

As par the course, Loudon County elected and appointed officials once again are putting the cart before the horse in seeking a property tax increase to pay for a new high school. And, to sweeten the pot and gain a commissioner’s vote, costly enhancements to Greenback school are included.

The governing and bureaucratic county state is proceeding as if it is a done deal, despite it and the means for paying for it currently not included in the 2025 proposed budget. It is blatantly missing from the proposed budget posted on the county website.  As usual since Commissioner Shaver joined them, the dark state of Loudon County government is leaving taxpayers in the dark and trying to hide their actions, including a property tax increase.

Transparency for taxpayers isn’t important to Loudon County government, but secrecy and obfuscation certainly seem to be. Complicated records’ requests are usually required to get access to information which should be readily available on the county government and school district’s mostly unhelpful websites.

A taxpayer could ponder what exactly is he or she getting for these soon to be increased taxes if left up to Commissioner Shaver and the other commissioners who follow him blindly. Never have the people mattered less in Loudon County. “Just pay up and shut up”. We know what’s in it for some of them, but exactly what is in it for us?  

It took the county commission over five years to do something about the overcrowded Loudon County Jail. Descriptions of overcrowding, including prisoners sleeping on floors, and dangerous incidents between inmates and inmates and staff weren’t enough to move government to act more quickly that time. But now, they want a new high school funded and a property tax increase lickety-split without thoughtful deliberation or fully informing the taxpayers paying their salaries.       

The Loudon County Board of Education, blessed by county commission, was able to purchase property for a new high school from the Lenoir City First Baptist Church. A new high school built adjacent to its property would also benefit the church because of  new/improved infrastructure, such as new/ improved roads, and even perhaps a new paved church driveway-all at county taxpayers’ expense. Oh, and by the way, the purchased property’s location is in an area of Lenoir City located behind Home Depot where traffic is already heavily congested. 

After reviewing the limited available documentation and attending a presentation by the Loudon County Director of Schools, I along with others determined that no solid justification exists for a new high school, nor any property tax increase.

Just because a new high school is wanted, doesn’t mean it is needed. In life there are always wants and needs. I want to live in a mansion with servants, but thank the good Lord I have the middle class house I need and hope to keep, without any servants.

With the economy the way it is now in the country, state and county, and so many people struggling, we do not need any unnecessary tax increases. It’s too late to contact schoolboard members to stop it, but not to contact your county commissioner to try and stop it. There is very little time to stop the momentum of tyranny, so please contact your commissioner and tell him/her that you don’t want a property tax increase!

And, if they don’t listen to you, term limit them by voting them out.

Chase Randolph (1st District includes TV)
100 River Rd.
Loudon, TN 37774
C (865) 257-7774
randolphc@loudoncounty-tn.gov

Bill Geames (1st District includes TV)
400 Robinson Dr.
Loudon, TN 37774
HC (865) 388-0526
geamesb@loudoncounty-tn.gov

Will Jenkins (2nd District)
139 Hidden Valley Lane
Lenoir City, TN 37771
C (865) 816-4696 / C (865) 317-0053
wjenkins27@yahoo.com

Rosemary Hines Quillen (2nd District)
100 River Rd.
Loudon, TN 37774
C (865) 207-4203
rosemaryhquillen@yahoo.com

Bill D. Satterfield (3rd District)
5616 Meadow Road W.
Greenback, TN 37742
H (865) 856-2523 / C (865) 771-4447
billsatterfield1951@outlook.com 

Gary Whitfield (4th District)
6263 Washington Pike
Philadelphia, TN 37846
C (865) 740-3731
whitfieldg@loudoncounty-tn.gov

Joe Morrison (5th District)
1850 Williams Ferry Rd
Lenoir City, TN 37771
H (865) 317-3805
jrmorris7@proton.me

Van Shaver (5th District)
568 Ford Road
Lenoir City, TN 37772
H (865) 986-6984
sarahlccom@aol.com

Michael Adam Waller (6th District)
P.O. Box 24
Lenoir City, TN 37771
C (865) 591-4446
wallera@loudoncounty-tn.gov

Henry J. Cullen (7th District TV only)
206 Tanasi Place
Loudon, TN 37774
H (865) 408-0256 / C (865) 388-9429
BigRed495@aol.com

Susan E Gingrich MHS., a Commonwealth of PA retiree and founder of Patriots Reborn Network refers to herself as a recovering bureaucrat and proud former public servant.  She is a freelance writer and Christian, conservative activist currently living in Loudon, TN with her husband James Shurskis and Cassie, their senior Birman cat.  “If you don’t have a sense of humor and open mind, better to skip my commentary!”.