Special Council Meeting Tonight.

A special Council meeting has been called by Mayor Kenneth Johnson for this evening at 6:30 in City Hall.

During the regular meeting on Tuesday, the Council failed to set the tax levy for the upcoming year. The State requires that the levy be filed by the first of September.

Council members Ronnie Wells and Chuck Tobrock voted against the levy. Three Council members were absent and it takes six members approval to pass an ordinance.

Due to reassessment in 2001, the City’s assessed valuation was jumped from $67,571,720 to an estimated $92,573,150. To keep the revenue from City property taxes "revenue neutral," the Council reduced the then ninety-five cent levy to seventy-two cents. After assessment appeals were settled, the actual valuation of the City has been set at $90,980,790. The defeated bill to set the levy four and a third cents higher was proposed as an attempt to recoup the revenue lost to the lower final assessment.

Council member Ronnie Wells noted during the meeting that the new rate actually raised the revenue and opposed the levy. No alternatives were proposed at the meet.

NASCAR to the Max

Last Saturday’s Sharpie 500 from the .533-mile Bristol (TN) Motor Speedway turned out to be a typical short track crash fest. The race was slowed 15 times by the caution flag for a total of 118 laps, over 20% of the race distance. Though the majority of the accidents at short tracks are unintentional, all of the bumping and banging eventually takes its toll on the drivers. After several of the incidents, the driver that initiated the contact was able to drive away while the recipient of the bump had to be towed from the track. A few of these incidents caused the wrecked driver to show his displeasure with his fellow competitor in various manners including Ward Burton throwing his heel covers (metal guards that shield the drivers feet from the intense heat of the engine and transmission) at the car driven by Dale Earnhardt, Jr. who had caused Burton’s spin.

As the laps wound down, Rusty Wallace had worked his way into contention for the win and appeared to be pulling away from Jeff Gordon. With less than 5 laps remaining, they encountered lapped traffic that allowed Gordon to close on Wallace’s bumper. With three laps remaining, Gordon lightly tapped Wallace’s rear bumper and caused Wallace’s car to loose traction briefly and Gordon to slip by for the lead. Gordon held the lead the final two circuits and claimed his first win of the season.

This Sunday the series will race at Darlington (SC) Raceway. The track is a 1.366-mile egg-shaped oval. With one end of the track being narrower than the other and the banking through the turns being different, the crews have a hard time setting up the chassis for the entire track. A car that handles perfectly through one set of turns won’t through the other causing many drivers to scrape the outside wall. When the drivers hit the wall and remove all of the paint and decals in the process, they are said to have earned their Darlington stripe. Bill Elliott could be among the frontrunners of the 43 starters.

If ya look at the total revenue generated by the City property tax it’s hard to tell exactly whether there is an increase bein’ proposed or not.

In the year 2000 overall revenue was $641,931. The proposed new levy is expected to generate $697,185. On the surface it would appear to be an increase in taxes. What would take some research is how much of that revenue comes from new construction over the last two years. There has been some major improvements out at the Myers Park Development and other commercial areas. Whether it equals the 7 percent increase in revenue will need to be decided by the Council this evenin’. I’m guessin’ with eight or nine members present, the levy will pass. But there may be some adjustment.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

by

Metcalf Auto Supply

Click & Clack
TALK CARS

By Tom & Ray Magliozzi

Dear Tom & Ray:

I am 15 and on my way to buying my first car. I have a summer job, but I’m still on a limited budget. I was wondering if you could recommend a car or car company that would be good for a high school student with no cash. I am basically looking for something that looks nice and is CHEAP. Can you help? — Mark.

TOM: Well, we have to be honest with you, Mark. There are few cars you can buy with no cash. You can STEAL cars with no cash, but then you’ll get locked up and you’ll be in a place where they use packs of cigarettes for currency. And you won’t have any of those, either.

RAY: So your best bet, if you really have no money, is to find a relative or family friend who is ready to trade in an old car. That way, you’ll get a car that you know has been driven responsibly, you’ll know the repair history and, if you’ve dutifully written thank-you notes for your birthday gifts over the years, you might even get it for little or nothing.

TOM: So you’ve got to convince Uncle Ted that his ‘99 BMW 750iL is starting to look a little shabby. And it’s starting to reflect poorly on his image.

RAY: Of course, even if you’re successful in prying away a car, you’ll still need money to pay for insurance, gas and the inevitable repairs that an older car brings. But you’ll be starting with a better car than you could otherwise buy.

TOM: If you were to go out and find a car for $500 or $1,000, you’d probably immediately have to put at least that much into it to make it safe and roadworthy. So if you can start off with a car that you KNOW is roadworthy, you’ll be ahead of the game.