economic development records Archives - Page 2 of 4 - Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

15 May, 2017

New laws passed in 2017 affect access to public records

By Deborah Fisher|2022-01-10T10:22:19-06:00May 15, 2017|Categories: Legislature, Open Meetings, Public Records, requests|Tags: addresses, audibility of public meeting, Bill Haslam, body cameras, bus safety complaints, crime victims, economic development records, electronic meetings, health care exams, lawmaker travel, police, requests by email, state parks, State Rep. Bob Ramsey, State Rep. Courtney Rogers, State Rep. Darren Jernigan, State Sen. Doug Overbey, State Sen. Ken Yager, State Sen. Lee Harris, tax credits, TBI, TCOG news, Tennessee State Museum, vendors|0 Comments

TCOG Legislative Report 2017 Following is a summary of new laws affecting access to government information. They include 7 new exceptions to the Tennessee Public Records Act, 2 existing exemptions partially rolled back, 1 new law improving access to records in general, 1 new law creating criminal penalties for releasing certain confidential information, and 3 new laws improving government records for better accountability. 1 - Requiring acceptance of public records requests through email State Rep. Courtney Rogers, R-Goodlettsville State Rep. Courtney Rogers, R-Goodlettsville, brought this legislation after an expensive legal dispute in her home county of Sumner County where the school district refused to accept public records requests by [...]

15 Feb, 2017

Interested in open government? Bills to watch in 2017 in Tennessee

By Deborah Fisher|2017-03-17T15:00:31-05:00February 15, 2017|Categories: exemptions, Legislature|Tags: charter schools, economic development records, financial disclosures, government contracts, legislation, legislature, lottery records, outsourcing, police body cameras, requests by email, vendors, voting records|0 Comments

Lawmakers have filed dozens of bill this year that could affect a citizen’s ability to get information about their local and state government. While it’s still early, here is a list of bills to watch. Economic development records HB 947 / SB 1179 - State Rep. Sam Whitson, R-Franklin / State Sen. Joey Hensley, R-Hohenwald - Makes confidential county and municipal records related to economic development. Part of this bill would make confidential any county or city economic development contracts, agreements and related records until after a contract is entered into. The other part of the bill allows a county or municipality to keep any documents confidential after a contract [...]

12 Dec, 2016

Public records request reveals county dropped the ball in monitoring PILOT agreements

By Deborah Fisher|2016-12-12T11:12:13-06:00December 12, 2016|Categories: economic development|Tags: economic development records, Johnson City Press, PILOTS, Washington County|0 Comments

Ten years ago, two Japanese companies agreed to bring jobs and investment to Washington County if the county gave them 10 years worth of tax breaks on their property, buildings and equipment. To monitor whether the companies met their promised job requirements, they were supposed to file annual job reports. If they fell short of the jobs promise, they lost a proportional amount of that year's tax break. Washington County Industrial Park (Nathan Baker) Sounds reasonable and fair, and the work of government officials trying to look out for the county's best interest. Problem was, the company did not file those annual reports -- at least until this [...]

7 Aug, 2015

New accounting standard to require governments to disclose cost of tax breaks

By Deborah Fisher|2020-11-19T12:24:13-06:00August 7, 2015|Categories: economic development|Tags: Chattanooga, economic development, economic development records, Helen Burns Sharp, Memphis, PILOTS, Shelby County|0 Comments

The Governmental Accounting Standards Board approved a new rule on Monday that requires governments to include in financial statements the value of tax abatements given to companies to spur economic development starting next year. "The results of external research ... suggest that tax abatements are an issue of concern among citizen groups, county board members, and municipal bond analysts, and that each group desires to receive information about the level of abatement activity and the results of the abatement programs," according to GASB. "However, the researchers found relatively few states (six) with statutes requiring any level of external reporting after tax abatements are granted. These findings indicate that there is an important information need that [...]

13 Jan, 2015

TVA denies News Sentinel appeal to release incentives for auto-parts maker

By Deborah Fisher|2015-01-13T10:31:31-06:00January 13, 2015|Categories: economic development|Tags: economic development records, FOIA Exemption 5, Knoxville News Sentinel, public records, TVA, U.S. Rep. John J. Duncan Jr.|0 Comments

The Knoxville News Sentinel reports that TVA has rejected the newspaper's appeal to reveal the incentives given to a South Korean company to expand its auto-parts manufacturing plant in Clinton. The contract for the incentives is already signed, and the deal is done, but the government-owned utility said it would hurt its competitive advantage if it revealed how much money it gave SL Tennessee. Here is an excerpt from the story, written by reporter Bob Fowler, which can be found online at knoxnews.com. At issue is what types of lures TVA dangled before a South Korean company — SL Tennessee — in exchange for its announcement last summer that it [...]

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