Oakland Business

I am the Mayor of Oakland TN. I am a voice for the people.

Scroll down to see Oakland issues, meeting agendas and more to come!

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Events

Oakland Issues

New Park

Residents voted on a Referendum to increase the sales tax rate by $0.005 to fund a new park. The park is currently under construction. Dirt work has been completed and the parking lot is paved. In the current phase we will build 4 soccer fields with fencing, bathrooms and a concession area. We will also be putting in a walking trail.
Oakland was very fortunate in securing a grant for $2.5 Million to fund the park project. Town money that has been spent on the park has only come from the $0.005 sales tax increase. NO PROPERTY TAX has been spent on the park, or will be spent on the park. If we continue with the project, no resident will have to pay any additional dollars, and if we stop the project, no resident will save any dollars.
I have a plan to sell naming rights and involve corporations in continued funding of the project. This will get us more amenities faster without town expense!
The faster this project is completed the earlier we will see economic benefit. Having an attraction like this in Oakland will draw people to our town and we will see increased patronage in our shops, restaurants and gas stations. These extra sales tax dollars will help ensure property taxes stay low! The increased revenue will also help fund other important areas such as Police, Fire and Public Works!
The park will also be a beautiful facility where families can enjoy the outdoors and have a better quality of life.

Property Taxes

The Town of Oakland has expenses like everyone else. Much like the price of food, gas, and everything else we buy, operating our town has become more costly. The property tax rate is a way of keeping up with these costs, but not the only way.
I BELIEVE IN KEEPING PROPERTY TAXES AS LOW AS POSSIBLE!
I have never voted to raise property taxes!!!
One source of revenue for our town is collecting fees and fines through code enforcement and our planning department. While this is a small percentage of our overall budget, they do add up, and we have done good work to make sure that we have maximized those rates.
Our biggest source of revenue is from sales tax. As Mayor, I have a plan to increase our commercial business, to get better stores and restaurants, and to bring entertainment to Oakland so our residents can enjoy family fun in their hometown. This will also increase our sales tax revenue. With the population growth we have experienced we now have the ability to attract larger businesses. We are also fortunate to be the economic engine of Fayette County, and many county residents do their shopping in Oakland, which further helps our budget.

Garbage Services

Our previous garbage company did a great job! They were friendly and they paid attention to residents needs. When their contract came up for renewal, they wanted a $5 per month increase. The previous board (before I was elected) did not want to pay the increase and put the contract back out for bids.
Our current company honored our old rate in the beginning, but now they have gone up $15 per month! We don't get the same services we once enjoyed and many residents (myself included) are unhappy. When this board put our contract back up for bids our current company was the only one that submitted a qualified bid. I have spoken with representatives from the garbage company, and even met with them in person, to express the needs of Oakland. While things have moderately improved, I think we can do better.
As Mayor I will continue to seek out different companies and better solutions for Oakland. I have already been advocating for the Town of Oakland to pick up its own trash. I have spoken with a garbage truck manufacturer that can quickly fill any order to satisfy our needs. I also supported the purchase of our knuckle boom truck and it has already been useful in our town. I believe we can offer better customer service and a cheaper rate by operating this service ourselves under our Public Works Department.

Wastewater Treatment Facility

Our wastewater treatment plant is being expanded! We are in the middle of construction with a completion date about a year away. When that is done, we will upgrade our existing plant, and that will triple the capacity we have now.

The price for the whole project was $29 million, of which we had $2 million and we borrowed $27 million. In order to secure the loan, we had to show it could be repaid through charges on customers' bills. We plan to use other monies in the wastewater account to help pay the loan off faster. We also have a refinancing plan that will give us a much better rate and save all customers money.

Water Bill

Most customers will see 4 charges on their monthly utility bill from Oakland:

1) Water Usage

2) Tax on Water Usage

3) Wastewater

4) Solid Waste (Garbage Pickup)

Wastewater and Solid Waste are discussed in other sections of this page so this will address water usage.

Like everything else, costs in our water department have risen. In order to account for this in the fairest way possible, we reduced the amount of water a household receives for their normal monthly charge. This means for customers who use less water, they may not see any increase in the water portion of their bill. We also had a slight increase in usage over the monthly allocation to help bridge the gap. Since water is considered a product, we have to charge tax for providing it to our customers.

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