presstalk 865-671-TALK (8255) or editor@farragutpress.com
• There is some confusion about the Farragut contribution to the schools. We have four schools in Farragut — the Primary, Intermediate, Middle and High School — and the Town of Farragut only contributes directly $151,000 to the four schools. The Knox County property taxes, of the houses that are in Farragut that pay Knox County property taxes, goes into the general budget of Knox County. And, Knox County contributes to the Knox County schools. And this year, the Knox County School Board has cut their budget by over $7 million, which means that the Farragut schools did get a reduction in contribution from the Knox County School Board. Actually, some of the employees, the maintenance, the janitors of the Farragut schools, are going to have to have a five-day cut in pay. Their pay will be cut five days this year because of the cuts from the Knox County School Board. Again, the property taxes in Farragut go to the Knox County budget and they contribute to the Knox County schools, all the schools. Farragut’s one of the schools. But the Town of Farragut only contributes directly to the Farragut schools, $151,000, where they buy land for $5 million on McFee Road. They do the McFee Park, it was $9 million. They do the Campbell Station Inn, it was a few million dollars. So they’re contributing to things, but not the Farragut schools. Let’s keep this straight for the public to know. The new mayor hopefully will contribute a lot more to the four Farragut schools. Thank you.
• The Town of Farragut has $32 million of cash surplus, and they have no debt, which is good. Each year, they collect about $17 million in sales tax revenue from the state. The budget is only $11 million so they have $5 to $6 million of extra money every year. They’ve been spending it on parks and land and strange things given the fact they contribute nothing to the schools. They contribute almost nothing to the four Farragut schools. They contributed $151,000 to the Farragut schools. That’s what they contribute. The Knox County taxes from the houses in Farragut go to the Knox County budget and they contribute to the Knox County School Board, which contributes some to the Farragut schools. But this year, the budgets have been cut by the Knox County School Board, and Farragut’s budget will be cut. So the Town of Farragut needs to contribute money directly to their four schools, the primary, the intermediate, the middle and high school. They need to
contribute direct money to that. The ad in the farragutpress last week said they should contribute a million per year, which is right. They should contribute a lot more than they do. A million a year would be no problem. They have about $5 million surplus every year added to their cash surplus reserve of $32 million and no debt. The Town of Farragut has their priorities wrong. The schools, the children should come first over roads, over parks, over buying land. The children should come first.
