New City census to be conducted in 2012
Thursday, December 8, 2011 10:00 AM
The 2010 Census reported City of Forest Hills’ population well below expected levels. The new count was 4,812, just a bare 2.2% above the 2000 level of 4,710.
The City anticipated the current population would be much closer to 6,000. The low count encouraged the Board of Commissioners to challenge the results; however, the Bureau requires a waiting period before the City can have a new census conducted.
A challenge to the census number would involve confirming the City boundaries by verifying the addresses of every house along the boundary lines. Once those addresses are determined, a comparison with the houses reported in the census would be much easier.
Why would the City spend the time and money to conduct a special census? The answer is revenue. The state of Tennessee distributes portions of its collections to cities and counties on a per-capita basis. Revenues come from various sources, and the allocations for 2011 were approximately $104 for every man, woman, and child within each political subdivision of the state. If the actual were 5,812, as the City believes, versus the government’s count of 4,812, the annual state shared revenues would increase by $104,000 for the balance of the decade.
The City would have the option of conducting the census in-house, hiring a firm, or paying the Census Bureau to handle it. The Bureau charges $200 to provide a cost estimate for a special census. That information allows officials to compare the cost of hiring a firm to canvass the City’s population.
The process will be more difficult now than in the past. The Office of Local Planning previously provided assistance to cities wishing to confirm their growth. However, the office was recently eliminated in a cost- reduction effort by the state.
One of the most important aspects of conducting this undertaking is communication. The City will follow this newsletter with information on the website and special mailing to keep you aware of its efforts.
The second important fact to explain is that this is not increasing the taxes you pay. Our goal is to ensure the collected taxes are properly allocated. The pool of money will not grow; if we can confirm our estimates, the funds simply will flow from one city to another—us.
New City Hall to improve meetings
Wednesday, October 5, 2011 4:49 PM
The new City Hall features a large meeting room and raised dais for board members.
The new City Hall will put an end to attendees at public meetings being unable to see the exhibits, hear the discussion, or sit down.
The meeting room in the soon to be completed City Hall will provide seating for 55 people and an audiovisual system to serve everyone. For overflow crowds, the lobby will be able to seat additional people. A large glass wall and speakers in the lobby will allow the overflow audience to see and hear the meeting. More
The meeting room will serve both the Board of Commissioners and Planning Commission. For the first time, all members of the Planning Commission will be seated together. They will sit on a dais two feet above the floor, and each member will have a microphone. Zoned ceiling speakers should properly distribute the sound throughout the room and allow everyone to hear questions, discussions, and comments.
Presenters will be able to load their digital presentations into a laptop and project a large, clear image to the audience and members alike on a nine-foot wide screen. The fixed screen will be approximately seven feet above the floor and six feet tall. Everyone in the room will be able to see exhibits during the presentation.
For smaller, less-complicated presentations that are not in a digital format, an overhead document camera will focus on the staff table and project an image of paper documents onto the same large screen. This will allow the members and public to view hard copies of architectural plans, photographs, and printed material almost as clearly as computer generated presentations. The document camera also will allow smaller projects to avoid the cost of professional preparation.
City manages its own stormwater
The City of Forest Hills has its own stormwater plan and opted not to be covered under the Nashville Davidson County Metropolitan Government’s plan. The Board of Commissioners chose not to participate in Metro plan for two reasons.
The first reason was the fee assessed by Metro on each household for stormwater management. The fee would have been included on the water and sewer bills of Forest Hills residents. Forest Hills does not levy any fee on residents to supplement the cost of managing stormwater. More
The second reason was Metro’s backlog of service calls for culvert and ditch repairs. During Metro’s presentation to the Commissioners, officials stated that Metro had a backlog of 800 service calls. That raised concerns about the priority of service in Forest Hills.
I will address some of our most common questions we receive.
Is the City responsible for drainage?
The answer is yes and no. Yes, the City is responsible for drainage within its rights-of-way. The width of the right-of-way varies from street to street and ranges from 40 to 60 feet on some of the major arteries. Measuring from the center of the street, the ROW extends approximately 20 to 30 feet in either direction. With about 40 miles of streets running through the City and ditches on each side of those streets, the task is daunting at times.
No, the City is not responsible for swales, ditches, and natural channels of water crossing private property. The City has no responsibility, no right, and no authority to work on or improve private property. In fact, the public purpose doctrine dictates that public funds can be used only for public purposes. Spending public funds for the private benefit of individual property owners would violate that standard. Property owners must maintain the swales, ditches and natural channels of water crossing their property.
Can my neighbor’s property drain onto mine?
Yes. Under Tennessee’s Natural Flow Rule, lower-lying properties are required to receive and discharge all waters that naturally flow down to them from higher ground. If the owner or the person occupying the lower property stops or impedes the natural flow of the water across or through the property and causes the higher lands to flood, the property owner is responsible for the infringing on the natural right of the owner of the higher land.
However, one owner may not divert or concentrate the flow of water onto another property. For instance, one property owner may not collect the water, then discharge it through a pipe onto neighboring property. Nor can the owner divert water where it did not previously flow in a natural manner.
The natural flow rule is a matter of state law rather than a Forest Hills ordinance; therefore it is not enforced by the City. A violation of this nature is a civil matter and must be resolved between the two property owners or through the legal process.
Can I install my own drainage system on my property?
Yes, as long as the natural flow rule is not violated. Property owners with sloped lots have chosen to intercept water and divert the flow around their homes. This normally is an attempt is to keep water from entering the basement and undermining foundation walls. Area or French drains may be used, as long as the discharge is directed into the ditch at the street, rather than onto neighboring property. Unless a drainage system is properly sized by an engineer, it may be able to handle only a fraction of a major rain event.
Do homeowners have any responsibility?
Yes. Maintain the swales, ditches, and natural drainage channels crossing your property.
Remove the minor accumulation of sticks and leaves from the inlet of the culvert beneath your driveway and add them to your chipping material.
Do not rake or blow leaves into the ditch. The City will pick up bagged leaves along with your chipping material. Please do not place your chipping material within the ditch, or in the street.
Do not fill in the ditch. Everyone would enjoy a nice flat lot to mow. However, the City must have ditches to drain water from the street, collect the runoff from your property, and then safely conduct the stormwater to the creeks and rivers.
How much tax do you pay
to the City of Forest Hills?
I enjoy fielding questions from residents about “the amount of taxes I pay.” That has not always been the case when I served at other cities. That question has occasionally caused heartburn, but not in Forest Hills.
As residents of Davidson County you pay a substantial amount in property taxes to the Metropolitan Government of Nashville Davidson County. The amount of property tax you pay to Forest Hills is ZERO! More
I am always surprised by the number of people who respond with, “but you receive that money back from Metro.” Not true! Forest Hills does not receive any funding from Metro.
As a resident, unless you develop property; attempt to rezone property; build a structure, pool, or accessory building; or improve/change your property in some manner, you may never write a check to the City of Forest Hills. The City assesses fees on these projects in order to recoup its expenses. Other than these fees, the City of Forest Hills does not have a source of revenue from its residents. More
So what is the source of City funds?
We receive a share of the taxes imposed by the state of Tennessee. Two examples of “state shared revenue” are the Hall income tax and the state and local sales tax. One might respond that the City of Forest Hills is still taking money from Forest Hills residents. Actually we are not. The state established theses taxes, the state takes your money, and shares part of it with every city.
For example, the Hall income tax is a tax established by the State and assessed on certain types of income. The amount an individual pays in Hall tax is based on income, not residence. Individuals pay the same amount in Hall tax whether they live in Memphis, Forest Hills, or Knoxville. If you move from Forest Hills to Brentwood, the state will send the “local share” of your Hall tax to your new city of residence, Brentwood. If an individual moves to an unincorporated portion of a county, then the distribution would go to that county government.
The sales tax is similar, yet different. The sales tax has two parts: state sales tax and local option sales tax. The state of Tennessee’s portion is currently 7%. The local option sales tax is adopted in cities and counties by referendum. In Davidson County the amount is 2.25%. The two portions currently combine for a total sales tax rate of 9.25% in Davidson County. The State shares a portion of its 7% with every city and county, and it is allocated on a per capita basis.
The local option sales tax differs in that it is returned to the county and city in which the tax was originally collected. By state law, 50% of the local option sales tax proceeds must be spent on education, while the remaining 50% is returned to the local general government fund. Forest Hills has very few retail businesses within its corporate boundary; however, there is a reasonable amount of income in this tax.
I decided to address this issue now because many of you are writing checks to pay your property taxes. Each year Forest Hills residents send approximately $14 million to Metro in property taxes.
What do Forest Hills residents receive for the money sent to Metro? Police, fire, and ambulance service are the most visible. You are also entitled to use the public parks.
