Free Republic

Study calls Tennessee's tax system among worst in the nation Tuesday, February 04, 2003 By Staff and wire report Governing Magazine released a study on Monday that ranks Tenneessee's tax system among the worst in the nation and called it "famously dysfunctional." Richard Green told the Associated Press that the study found the tax system in Tennessee "about as badly broken as any" in terms of its long-term ability to fund services. Green is one one of the study's four authors. "That's largely thanks to the fact that the state has kind of the twin problems of relying on sales...

Consultant finds city school spending, building wasteful By Ruma Banerji banerji@gomemphis.com January 9, 2003 The Memphis city school system could save more than $114 million over five years if it curbs lavish construction spending and tears down its bureaucracy, according to a report released Wednesday. The Florida group hired this spring to conduct the audit particularly slams the district for paying too much to build schools, sometimes $100 per square foot over industry standards, and for consistently going from 10 percent to 122 percent over budget. Supt. Johnnie Watson asked for the study in April, telling the firm he wanted...

County disclaims arena cost overruns $30,000 approved for laptop computers By Michael Erskine erskine@gomemphis.com December 3, 2002 The County Commission on Monday passed a resolution disavowing responsibility for any cost overruns on the downtown arena project. County Atty. Donnie Wilson said the resolution wouldn't absolve the county from any future liabilities, but commissioners passed it anyway. Also Monday, the commission voted to amend the budget to appropriate $30,000 to buy laptop computers for commissioners, though some may pay for their own. Commissioner John Willingham proposed the arena resolution, which declared that the commission "will not assume any funding responsibility for...