The Campbell County Commission approved a motion Tuesday night allowing Clerk & Master Dennis Potter to decline to bid on delinquent tax properties that might involve fiscal liability to the county.  WATCH the meeting.

Attorney Joe Coker explained that some of the properties that are included in the annual delinquent tax sale may involve costs to the owner if the property has mandatory cleanup costs, such as a house leveled by fire, a meth lab or other environmental hazards.

While potential bidders are notified in advance of any potential liabilities, the county automatically bids for the amount of taxes owed if no buyers make an offer at the tax sale. The commission voted unanimously to allow the Clerk & Master to decline to make a bid, leaving liability with the original owners instead of county government.

Commissioners also unanimously passed a pair of resolutions, one urging Tennessee’s congressional delegation to support adding Tennessee to a list of states receiving $10 million from the federal Abandoned Mine Fund for a pilot program to find ways to convert abandoned coal mine sites into economic development projects.

Scott Kitts made the motion after residents from the White Oak area attended the workshop last week to request the resolution.

The other resolution, sponsored by Rusty Orick, was in support of a bill in the Tennessee legislature that would create a “Doctor of Medical Science” degree. This would enable rural counties to improve health care access by allowing physician’s assistants to take two additional years of training and practice medicine as general practitioners.

Commissioners also suspended rules to discuss an additional budget amendment. The amendment was brought up at the request of Mayor E.L. Morton, to allow the county to provide its share of the costs, shared with the City of La Follette, to upgrade various facilities to new ADA standards. Morton explained that failure to meet those standards could jeopardize TDOT funds coming to the county.

Commissioners also approved the Office of Property Assessor’s five-year reappraisal plan. The plan was presented earlier in the evening before the Delinquent Tax Committee, where it was approved with minimum discussion. Assessor Brandon Partin told the committee that the reappraisal involves 30,000 parcels and explained how the Assessor’s office keeps track of new structures and pro-rates taxes for those properties.(WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED – 02/20/2019-6AM)

Related