M O N D AY
JANUARY 4, 2016
161st YEAR • NO. 212
CLEVELAND, TN 20 PAGES • 50¢
New enrollment for tax partial pay starts today
By RICK NORTON
Associate Editor
If winter enrollment for the Bradley
County Trustee’s Office partial payment plan is anything like last fall’s, a
record amount of property-tax parcels
registered in November and December
will get even bigger.
That’s the assessment of Trustee
Mike Smith who believes the 6-yearold initiative — which allows residents
to pay their property taxes in equal
Inside Today
Looking toward
the Vols’ future
Tennessee Volunteers quarterback Joshua Dobbs and the
Volunteers closed out the 2015
football season with six straight
wins. Expectations will be high for
the 2016 season. The Tennessee
Titans will get the first pick in the
NFL draft after closing the season
with a 3-13 record. The Atlanta
Falcons also went out on a losing
note. See Sports, Pages 13-15.
CSCC’s Seymour
sees a busy year
Dr. Bill Seymour, president of
Cleveland State Community
College, sees a bright and busy
year ahead for the local school. He
writes about it in a guest “Viewpoint”
on Page 16 of today’s edition.
Forecast
Today should be mostly sunny,
with a high near 38 degrees. North
winds of 10 to 15 mph could gust
as high as 20. Tonight calls for
mostly clear skies, with a low
around 23. Tuesday should be
sunny, with a high near 43.
Tuesday night should be clear, with
a low around 21.
Index
Classified................................18-19
Comics...........................................8
Editorials......................................16
Horoscope......................................8
MINI Page......................................5
Obituaries.......................................2
School Page...................................4
Sports......................................13-15
TV Schedule..................................9
Weather........................................11
Around Town
Sharon Kersey getting a surprise visit from her beautiful
granddaughters ... Cettina Gage
distributing candy bars ... Jay
Clark perfecting the “Superman
Dance” ... Mark Grissom looking
for a new morning radio co-host
... Lacey Workman tracking down
a friend to introduce her to her
beautiful new bundle of joy ...
Samantha Holmes having dinner
with her son after six long years.
6 89076 75112 4
installments — is a sign of growing
need among home and property owners who struggle to make the lumpsum payments once a year.
At the end of last fall’s sign-up period, the Trustee’s Office had recorded
1,058 parcels which easily eclipsed
the numbers from the year before. At
that time, some 964 parcels were registered for the partial pay plan; however, that number included both
enrollment periods — the one held
each fall and the second one in
January and early February.
The 1,058 figure, Smith explained,
represents only last fall’s enrollment.
The winter registration for 2016 taxes,
which begins today, is often busier
than its autumn-season predecessor,
he said.
Deadline for the winter sign-up,
which will be the final opportunity for
county taxpayers to join the growing
number of participants for 2016, is
Friday, Feb. 5.
“Bradley County taxpayers continue
to utilize this, as well as other programs that we offer, at an increasing
pace,” Smith told the Cleveland Daily
Banner. “The 12-month program (aka
as partial payment plan) has assisted
hundreds of households that find this
payment method more effective for
them rather than the lump-sum payment.”
Partial payment operates like
financing tools such as credit cards,
mortgages or car loans; except, no
interest is tacked onto each payment.
By visiting the Trustee’s Office in person to sign up for partial payment,
county taxpayers can work out a payment plan with office staff that is best
for them — whether it’s monthly,
quarterly, twice annually or some
other combination that is agreed upon
by the taxpayer and the trustee.
If a monthly plan is selected, the
common practice is to divide the total
property tax amount owed for a year’s
See ENROLLMENT, Page 6
Budgets,
new faces,
goodbyes
dominated
in county
Utility’s
electric
revenue
up; water
is down
Commission saw
plenty of issues
Sales pattern is
mostly seasonal
By BRIAN GRAVES
By RICK NORTON
Banner Staff Writer
As spring turned to summer,
Bradley County was in the midst
of budget discussions, seeing
new faces in certain positions,
and saying goodbye to some
longtime veterans of public service.
The governor popped into town
for a collegial visit and the subject of dogs, which had been
silent for awhile, began barking
once again.
May
- The Bradley County Sheriff’s
Office was
ranked
ninth out
of the 95
counties
in solving
burglaries.
- The County Commission put
the brakes on a proposed $30
wheel tax.
- Greg Hicks, owner of
Impressions Catering, was
awarded the Mel Bedwell Small
Business Person of the year by
the Chamber of Commerce.
- Hardwick Clothes secured a
contract to produce 65,000 suits
over the next year.
- Allan Jones was awarded the
first-ever honorary degree from
Cleveland State.
- Longtime Clerk and Master
Carl Shrewsbury announced
plans to retire.
- A marker was unveiled in
Thaxton, Va., to denote the spot
where a train wreck took the
lives of three Cleveland residents
on “the day Cleveland Cried” in
1889.
The
Allan
Jones
Foundation covered the cost of
the marker.
- After a TDOT study of accidents at Walker Valley Road and
Lauderdale Memorial Highway,
officials said it is unsafe driving
skills more than markings that
are causing the large number of
accidents in the area.
June
- Resolute Forest Products (the
former Bowater) announced a
$270 million expansion of its
operations at its Calhoun plant
PART 2
See BU DtUE2