Taxpayers Opposed to Useless Roads

TOUR HAS JOINED A NEW TAXPAYER ADVOCACY GROUP CALLED

REGISTERED SKEPTICAL VOTERS AND PETITIONERS

THE PURPOSE IS TO EXPLORE THE POSSIBILITY OF OPPOSING THE BUSINESS PARK INFRASTRUCTURE FUNDING THAT WAS ANNOUNCED THE WEEK OF 17 NOV 2008. THE GOAL WILL BE TO GET A REFERENDUM ON THIS BOND ISSUE AND FINALLY GET A PUBLIC POLICY DISCUSSION GOING THAT IS NOT CONTAIMINATED BY THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND SHAMELESSLY SUPPORTED BY AN ALLEGED LOCAL NEWSPAPER

THIS SPACE IS TO BE USED TO INFORM THE PUBLIC OF REASONS WHY THE BUSINESS PARK SHOULD NOT GET INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT WITH PUBLIC MONEY BUT WILL ALSO BE HELD OPEN TO THOSE WITH DIFFERING OPINION. EVEN IF YOU THINK THE INFRASTRUCTURE CONSTRUCTION WILL WORK, TELL US WHY YOU WOULD BE AGAIST VOTING ON THIS POLICY.

THE PETITON BELOW IS A FIRST ATTEMPT TO GET CONSENSUS ON THE PETITION. CUT AND PASTE THE WEBSITE VERSION INTO A WORD PROGRAM, PRINT IT AND SEND IT TO YOUR NEIGHBORS AND RELATIVES ONLY IF THEY ARE REGISTERED PUTNAM COUNTY VOTERS. THE FONT CAN BE ADJUSTED WITHIN THE WORD PROGRAM TO SMALLER SIZES TO GET ALL EIGHT SIGNATURES ON THE PAGE.

WE ARE LOOKING FOR VOLUNTEERS TO ACCEPT PETITIONS IN THEIR BUSINESSES. IF YOU GET A PETITION IN THE MAIL PLEASE SEND IT BACK WITH YOUR STAMP ON IT. THE COST OF A STAMP WILL BE WELL WORTH IT IF IT WAKES UP THE COUNTY COMMISSION TO THE PUBLIC EXPECTATION THAT THERE SHOULD BE BETTER MANAGEMENT OF DEBT IN PUTNAM COUNTY.

SEND SIGNED PETITIONS TO:

REGISTERED SKEPTICAL VOTERS AND PETITIONERS

P.O. Box 3914          

Cookevville, Tennessee, 38502-3914          

15 DECEMBER 2008

           TALKING POINTS FOR THE DELAY OF INFRASTRUCTURE IN THE PARK

1. The number of jobs in the manufacturing sector is declining due to greater productivity. So far there is an inadequate explanation how providing a glut of floor space or land for floor space turns into industrial jobs.

2. The traditional means of financing infrastructure is to attach the cost to the product and spread it over the customer base. The city and the county can only spread costs to the people who are within their taxing jurisdiction.  

3. Infrastructure can be built in a rather short time. Chattanooga seemed able to attract VW with only a fragment of the infrastructure that was left over from the old ammunition plant.  An additional 1800 acres was bought that was not developed or furnished with infrastructure, thus proving that it is not a hard and fast rule that the only way to the next factory is to put in the infrastructure.

4. Infrastructure requirements are industry specific. Some need more power, water, gas and other utility services than others. Preparing for the worst case means installing more than needed. Clarksville recently got a Dow Corning plant that did not use the developed part of their Mega Site.  Pre-built infrastructure  was not required  and the company seemed to have no problem with the provision of the infrastructure while the building is under construction.

5. The 50%-50% city-county partnership is unfair to the county because the county will be paying half of the cost but Cookeville, for the same half of the cost, will be getting the revenue from the gas, electricity and water.  The cost of providing utility infrastructure is built into the meter price. The city therefore gets a double dip by paying only half of the cost up front and getting back all of it over time. The city also has a bigger budget and tax base than the county and therefore has the greater ability to pay.

6. The plan to buy the property low at $15,000 per acre and to sell high at $50,000 is flawed because the historic rate of increase in the average cost of Putnam County industrial property as tracked by the Comptroller Generals Office is 2.36 percent per year. At this rate of increase, there will be a 51.6 year wait before the land naturally acquires that value.  The originators of this business plan need to expose what they are depending upon to provide a greater than normal growth in the value of industrial/commercial land.

7. A random sample of sites that do advertise an asking price places shows that 77 percent of properties are below $50,000 per acre. This is a combination of properties with and without infrastructure.  Volkswagen was able to get their site, with Interstate access already there, at less than half of the proposed price that the City of Cookeville and Putnam County has already paid.VW AGREEMENT

8. There are over 1200 empty industrial sites all over the state of Tennessee.  There are at least 41 in Putnam County.  We already have more than our fair share on a per county basis. GET THE LATEST COUNT HERE  
9. Mission Creep is a big problem.  This started out as a 400 acre industrial park. After it was surveyed, it shrunk.  After it was designed, the useable space dropped to 225 acres as 45 five-acre plots. A large part of the property was below the flood plain and nothing was mentioned about the cemetery, the sinkholes and pond. The latest legal notice of the intention to borrow money for the infrastructure mentions the need to borrow for additional land purchases.  

10. Past efforts to bring industry to Cookeville have failed to overcome the national and international pressures that make service sector jobs more available in the economy.  The so-called Highlands Initiative, if it worked, would restore only half of the jobs lost in Putnam County in the last ten years. In spite of the economy, the job creation in all combined sectors has been positive. In Putnam County, the increase in Personal Income for the county has also been positive in spite of the lost jobs.

11.  Putnam County already has a high per capita debt compared to its per capita personal income.  In 2007 Putnam County ranked number 23 out of 95 counties in per capita debt. This was next to and behind Knox County in per capita debt. Thirty eight other counties in Tennessee carry less than half of the per capita debt already established in the 2007 Audit report for Putnam county.

12.   The business plan is largely a secret and attempts to get a copy of it from the state were rebuffed.  There seems to be a lack of critical information that would allow competent people to evaluate it. The details that have leaked out seem to indicate that there is a lack of appreciation for the time value of money.  After spending $5 million for the land and spending $14.28 million for the infrastructure, the county and the city must either arrange for a flow of tax money or a cash flow associated with the purchase of lots or leases. A simple mortgage calculator found in numerous places on the internet gives a rough idea of the cash flow needed to finance $19.28 million dollars over the 40 year maximum length of time allowed by state law.  The annual payment would be $1.12 million dollars per year if figured at 5%.  The property tax dedicated to economic development is roughly a third of a million dollars per year.

13. A survey of the average cost of existing rental space shows that there is very little incentive to build a new building unless there are extraordinary specialized needs like an ultra-clean environment.  Most existing and unused industrial buildings in Tennessee can be rented for less than $5.00 per square foot per year. The cost of building the same structure would be between $80 and $90 per square foot. Lower cost could be obtained by going to metal buildings but according to the Cookeville City Council, this is going to be a high-end park. If someone bought a building at $80 per square foot, the yearly payment at 5% interest over 20 years would be $6.42 per square foot per year.

14. The insistence that there is a need for visibility for manufacturing sites is not believable. It is roadside service industries like gas stations, motels and restaurants that need Interstate visibility.  Many industries that are along the interstate are visible because they are coincidentally built while being close to half way between interchanges.  The value of land between interchanges often sags or stabilizes while land near the interchange doubles several times over.  High cost land and buildings only make the products that are manufactured more expensive and less able to compete.

INDUSTRIAL PARK INFRASTRUCTURE BOND ISSUE PETITION

     We the undersigned citizens and registered voters of Putnam County, Tennessee protest the issuance of any general obligation, revenue, inter-fund transfers or self financing or other legal debt mechanisms that may be formulated by Putnam County or the City of Cookeville for the purpose of raising money for infrastructure or buildings on the new Business Park Business.

     Furthermore we request that any and all future expenditures on the property bounded on the east by Holladay Road, the west by Bennett road, the north by Lee Seminary Road and the South by I-40, be subject to a public referendum during a regular two year cycle of federal elections.

SIGNATURES of REGISTERED VOTERS of PUTNAM COUNTY

     No action by federal, state, county or city government has been shown capable of reversing the loss of industrial jobs in the state of Tennessee or the nation since 1979.  It is folly to take up local tax money to challenge what is an international problem and possibly duplicate what the federal government is already doing. Putnam County already has a very high per capita debt that ranks just behind Knox County.  In 2007 it was calculated to be $1479.50 per person based on the 2000 population. There are 38 out of 95 Tennessee counties that carry half of our per capita debt.
 
     There are already 41 commercial or industrial properties, many with infrastructure in place, in Putnam County.  Building another Park with 45 five-acre lots only adds to the glut of industrial real estate.  According to the Tennessee Comptrollers Office the average annual increase in industrial property value assessments from 1999 to 2007 in Putnam County was only 2.36% per year. Yet the Chamber's business plan is to sell these new lots at $50,000 per acre after paying approximately $15,000 per acre.  If the industrial property rises in value at 2.36% per year it will take 51.6 years for these lots to be worth $50,000 per acre.  
 
    There are at least 239 Tennessee industrial parks within 100 miles of the new VW plant they won't even hire the first worker until 2011. There are at least 104 industrial sites within 100 miles of the new VW plant in Alabama.  There are no less than 40 sites within 60 miles of the new VW plant in Georgia.  The state of Tennessee has signed an agreement with VW promising not assist any competitor to VW within 100 miles of Chattanooga from 13 NOV 2008 until two years after the day they start VW production.  The VW agreement has damaged our ability to fill this park with competitors to VW and this business park is so far away that transportation costs will be a burden relative to closer opportunities.

     The plan to provide infrastructure to this park is a drastic departure from traditional government functions. Public safety, education and transportation should be priorities, not buying and developing speculative real estate. There are already 1259 industrial sites all over the state of Tennessee waiting to be the next factory and the total area is over 84 square miles. These numbers of speculative sites are growing at an alarming rate while the numbers of manufacturing jobs are declining since 1979 at about 2.7 per cent per year.  According to Bureau of Economic Analysis statistics, Tennessee has been losing manufacturing jobs from 2001 to 2006 at a rate of 2.40% per year and Putnam county over the same period lost manufacturing jobs at an annualized rate of 4.0% per year. Even though George Halford claims that we are in the best position to make gains, it seems that we are not making those gains and are below avearge for the state.

November 17, 2008

To:  Putnam County Commissioners

From:  Linda A. Owens and N. Faye Pyles Lynch

Re:  Proposed Business Park

I hope that I will be able to speak to you this evening to voice my concerns about the misuse of eminent domain/condemnation by Putnam County and the City of Cookeville of property for the proposed Business Park.  But, since this Commission has in the past limited my mother, Faye Lynch, and/or me to three minutes and because your attorney, Jeff Jones, has cut us off from speaking for even that amount of time, I felt it necessary to put my concerns in writing.  I also want to clarify that my attorney has assured me that there is no legal basis for Mr. Jones to stop my family from speaking to you.  My family has the right to seek legal representation to keep you from taking our private property and that does not give you the right to silence us or impede our freedom of speech.  

My concern this evening is your possible use of eminent domain/condemnation of even more property prior to your receiving the Certificate of Public Purpose and Necessity.  

T.C.A. 13-16-207(f) states in pertinent part:
        Before a city or county may undertake to exercise the power of eminent domain for development of an industrial park, it must obtain a certificate of public purpose and necessity as provided in subsection (1), even if no funds will be borrowed for the project…

The latest drawing by your architectural company, BWSC, shows two road additions/extensions that will take private property.  There is at least one home and private land across from Cane Creek Road as well as land and possibly a home for the straightening of Lee Seminary Road.  As the straightening of this road was not fully discussed at the open meeting, it may or may not be part of the business park and therefore may or may not be included in the certificate application; however, a formal entrance to the business park from Burgess Falls Road was alluded to by County Executive Kim Blaylock.      

I also want to bring to your attention that neither the city nor county is given the right to take property for the building of the 5th interchange and that my family's northern 12 acres are not in the proposed business park.  And, as the grey areas on the architect's map drawing you were given illustrate, there will be a large amount of privately held land within this business park…unless, of course, you are planning to condemn all the property within Holladay Road, Bennett Road, Lee Seminary Road, and I-40 when (and if) you obtain the Certificate of Public Purpose and Necessity.  

I am asking that this Commission not allow further abuse and misuse of eminent domain to take private property until you have the required certificate.  

TDOT to Try Own Stimulus, Take Bonds to Do it
via WPLN Newscast Stories by Blake Farmer on 11/18/08

The state Department of Transportation may deviate from its historical policy of pay-as-you-go and take out 350-million dollars in bonds to help stimulate the economy. At the governor’s budget hearings today, transportation commissioner Gerald Nicely said he wants to issue “garvee” bonds.

“Garvee” stands for Grant Anticipation Revenue Vehicle. Commissioner Nicely says he wants to take out bonds against an annual stream of 40-million dollars from the federal government. That money is meant to fund repairs for some 300 bridges in the state. Nicely says the bonds would allow the work to begin now.

“We could in effect eliminate about 65 to 70 percent of those structurally deficient bridges in two-and-a-half to three year period. We’d have them either under construction or completed. And yes indeed, it would obviously provide a lot of jobs.”

Governor Phil Bredesen says he supports the bond proposal and acknowledges the break from policy. It would take legislative approval. Bredesen also says he’s confident the state would find buyers for the bonds since federal money would back them.

Some in Congress are proposing an infrastructure stimulus on the federal level. TDOT expects the state could receive some 268-million dollars for road projects if such a bill passes. Chief Engineer Paul Degges says the department has a list of projects ready to go if the money comes down. :20

WEB EXTRA:

At least 22 states including New Jersey and California have used GARVEE bonds, which are relatively new to infrastructure financing. In Tennessee’s case, the state would pay them back over a 12 year period. But increasingly, the credit markets have become an issue. As recently as October, the Idaho DOT delayed a $116 million GARVEE bond sale scheduled for this month to wait out the credit markets.

CARA Members and Friends,

   Just got back a few days ago from three weeks in Guatemala, so this
notice is overdue!  My apologies.

   TDOT has extended until Nov. 30 the comment period until for their I-40 /
I-81 study and plans.   If you have not already sent in your comments,
please don't fail to do so, and remember CARA's recommendation is that TDOT
put more funding into rail piggyback transport across Tennessee to reduce
the truck volume on these interstate highways.

TDOT predicts truck volume on the I-40 / I-81 system to DOUBLE by 2030.   Do
you want to drive to Nashville or Knoxville in that kind of mayhem?

TDOT has considered redeveloping rail connections between Cookeville and
Crossville, to create a direct rail connection completely across the state.
Estimated cost to create this statewide connection:  $1.2 billion dollars.

   To find out more about TDOT's plans, click here   Also here

Looks like TDOT is favoring the widing  various section of I-40 from 4 to 6
lanes, and building truck climbing lanes in various localities (including
Putnam Co.).

I do not think they have put enough emphasis on the development of the rail
option, which would be a much more energy efficient (and therefore
environmentally friendlier) way to carry trucks across our state.

    To send in your comments, use one of these addresses:

>> "TDOT is accepting comments on Technical Memorandum #4, the draft final
>> report, through November 30, 2008. Email your comments to
>> TDOT COMMENTS or RALPH BARNES

    Please don't let this opportunity to exert some influence on how TDOT
deals with the growth of traffic on I-40 / I-81 pass by without comment.

     Happy Thanksgiving to you all,

      Ric

PRIORITY SELECTIONS

     Of all of the RPO meetings, the most dreaded days are those with rankings as their primary purpose. The process was made slightly more understandable this year by switching to an alphabetical map identifier system. In the future it will look like the projects are multiplying, but they will only be getting smaller as they are broken up into smaller segments that are less than 10 miles long.  Once again it was discovered that ranking something high on the list has no influence and makes little difference in exactly when a project gets built. Projects on the list were placed by the year they are ready for funding. There was an attempt to look on the bright side of the predicament by hoping that the project, once placed in queue, would eventually be built but no one could predict when that would be. The legislature was implicated in some of the problems since they do not want to set aside money for something that is not going to happen in the same year.

FIFTH INTERCHANGE / MINE LICK CREEK INTERCHANGE

      The first thing that was mentioned was the push back of the Fifth Interchange. The project manager, Chester Southerland, brought forth an explanation that places the responsibility on local unnamed officials for pushing back the project until 2010.  I suspect if some of those officials were mentioned, RPO members would find out that their opinion ranks well below those of unelected Chamber of Commerce members.

SLIGO BRIDGE CONCERNS

     Another factor in the changing priorities was the impending repair of the Sligo Bridge. Even though there was an attempt to obtain an earmark from both senators and the local congressman, there is no earmark in the year 2009 for this bridge. Nothing makes the prioritization process seem more random than the inability to get this bridge fixed.  This bridge should have been scheduled for replacement, not presented as an emergency.