DeKalb Countians have a few more days to pay their property taxes for 2010 without penalty.
Taxes are due to the trustee’s office by Monday, February, 28th. After that date,
penalty and interest begin to accrue at a rate of 1.5 percent per month. Tax notices were mailed out on October 19th.
Property taxes from 2009 may be paid in the trustee’s office through Thursday, March 31st. After that, they will be turned over to the clerk and master’s office and subject to additional fees.
Trustee Sean Driver said about $3.3 million of the expected $6.8 million-plus in tax rolls have been collected so far or 48.5% as of Thursday, February 3rd. But, Driver added that collections are expected to pick up significantly during the next three weeks. “We’re always busier the last two to three weeks of February”, he said.
Driver said taxes may be mailed in, paid in person, or by debit or credit card either in the trustee’s office or on-line at www.tennesseetrustee.com. ” We are now offering credit and debit card processing through the Business Information Systems for the property owners of DeKalb County. You may pay your property taxes using a VISA, MASTERCARD, or DISCOVER card. It can be handled on-line, in the Trustee’s Office, or by phone.”
Driver explained that a 2.75% convenience fee will be added to your tax bill, if you take advantage of on-line payment, but the county does not collect it. “If you want to do those payments on line, it is fast, easy, and secure. On-line payments may be made at www.tennesseetrustee.com. 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You may also pay your taxes in our office at 1 public square, room 206 in the DeKalb County Courthouse. Our phone number is 615-597-5176. Office hours are Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. until 4:30 p.m.”
Seniors, be sure to check with the office on the state property tax relief program. The income limit is $26,830 for single or combined household incomes. If a senior qualifies for the state program, they will also qualify for some assistance through the county. Disabled veterans and disabled homeowners may qualify for tax relief as well. If you meet the requirements you may apply in the Trustee’s Office. The deadline to apply is 35 days after February 28th, 2011 or April 5th, 2011.
If you have any additional questions, come by the Trustee’s office in the courthouse or call 597-5176.

Need a job?
Kelly Services will be conducting a job fair on Tuesday, February 8th from 11:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. in the basement of the DeKalb County Courthouse, 1 public square, Smithville.
Immediate positions available at Federal Mogul in Smithville. Please bring your high school diploma or GED and two forms of valid IDs to the Job Fair.
Pay rates: $8.54 to $9.57 per hour with available overtime. First, second, and third shifts available.
Please call 866-513-5694 for full details.

State Senator Mae Beavers of Mount Juliet and State Representative Debra Maggart of Hendersonville have introduced legislation that calls for the adoption of a statewide, industry-funded electronic tracking system, called NPLEx (the National Precursor Log Exchange), to monitor and stop illicit purchases of over-the-counter cold and allergy products containing pseudoephedrine (PSE), an ingredient sometimes used to illegally manufacture methamphetamine. The bill provides an alternative, less-intrusive solution to the prescription-only bill (HB 181) introduced last week.
“This kind of government intrusion in our lives is not the solution we need to attack the meth problem in Tennessee,” said Sen. Beavers, the bill’s sponsor in the Senate. “We should not punish the tens of thousands of innocent Tennesseans who need this over-the-counter medication to get at the criminals who are using the drug illegally to produce meth when there is another approach which is very effective. Our legislation offers a proven, effective, non-governmental solution to the problem, without pushing up the cost of the medication on consumers by requiring them to visit a physician to obtain a prescription.”
There is currently no mechanism in place in Tennessee to block illegal sales in real time, as many pharmacies and retailers rely on handwritten, paper logbooks to track purchases. As a result, criminals have learned to
circumvent the current system. SB 325/HB 234 would provide a secure, interconnected electronic logbook that allows pharmacists and retailers to refuse an illegal sale based on purchases made elsewhere in the state or
beyond its borders. Most importantly, SB 325/HB 234 preserves access to the PSE medicines consumers rely on and trust for cold and allergy relief.
“For all law-abiding Tennesseans, the experience of buying cold and allergy medicines containing pseudoephedrine at the local pharmacy will not change,” said Rep. Maggart, the bill’s sponsor in the House of Representatives. “However, for those looking to purchase more than their legal limit, this system will immediately deny the sale, and law enforcement will possess a powerful tool to track down these individuals
when they attempt to do so.”
In the four states that have fully implemented e-tracking technology, nearly 40,000 grams of illegal PSE sales per month are blocked. The system, which provides local law enforcement officials with precise data
on who is attempting to buy illegal amounts of PSE, also helps law enforcement find meth labs.
“NPLEx is effective because it prevents the illegal sale of pseudoephedrine from ever happening in the first place,” said Carlos Gutierrez, a state government relations consultant at the Consumer Healthcare Products Association. “Electronic blocking technology gives law enforcement the ability to identify meth cooks, not only in Tennessee, but across state lines and in real time.”
The leading manufacturers of over-the-counter medicines containing PSE, represented by the Consumer Healthcare Products Association, are working closely with state legislators and law enforcement to help implement NPLEx
technology to pharmacies and retailers in Tennessee free of charge.
SB 325/HB 234 is supported by the Tennessee Pharmacists Association, the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, and the Tennessee Chamber of Commerce & Industry. If passed into law, SB 325/HB 234 would make
Tennessee the 13th state to pass legislation requiring a statewide e-tracking system to block illegal sales of medicines containing PSE. The NPLEx system would be fully integrated into Tennessee pharmacy systems by
January 1, 2012.

Donny Green, County Executive Director of the DeKalb County Farm Service Agency, announces that annual payments for the Tobacco Transition Payment Program, for the 2011 payment year, were released recently.
DeKalb County quota holders and producers will receive $474,122.60 in 2011 program year payments. Green says that direct deposit transactions should arrive in bank accounts within 3 business days while mailed checks should arrive within 10 business days for quota holders and producers who have enrolled in the program.
The Tobacco Transition Payment Program (TTPP), also called the “tobacco buy-out,” helps tobacco quota holders and producers transition to the free market.
The Fair and Equitable Tobacco Reform Act of 2004 (P.L. 108-357), signed by President Bush on Oct. 22, 2004, ended the Depression-era tobacco quota program and established the TTPP. The program provides annual transitional payments for 10 years to eligible tobacco quota holders and producers. Payments began in 2005 and continue through 2014. Payments are funded through assessments of approximately $10 billion on tobacco product manufacturers and importers. The remaining payments will be made in 3 annual installments that will be issued in January of each year.
For more information on the Tobacco Transition Payment Program, please contact the DeKalb County Farm Service Agency at 615-597-8225, extension 2.

The DeKalb County School System has announced it’s “Teachers of the Year” at each of the five schools in the county.
This year’s honoree are Christina Ontiveros, a pre-kindergarten teacher at Smithville Elementary School; Lisa Mabe, a second grade teacher at Northside Elementary School; Michelle Jones, a sixth grade teacher at DeKalb Middle School; Shelia McMillen, a second grade teacher at DeKalb West School; and Jenny Norris, a teacher at DeKalb County High School.
Three of these five teachers will soon be selected at the system-wide level to compete for regional honors in the Tennessee Teacher of the Year Program.
Michelle Burklow, Supervisor of Instruction for grades Pre-K to 6 said “Again this year, we’re going to participate in the Teacher of the Year program, which begins on the school level, moves to the system level, the regional level, and finally to the state level.
“In pre-kindergarten through fourth grade, Teachers of the year are Lisa Mabe from Northside Elementary, Christina Ontiveros from Smithville Elementary, and Shelia McMillen from DeKalb West School. One of them will be selected to represent DeKalb County at the regional level.
“In grades 5 through 8, the teacher of the year is Michelle Jones from DeKalb Middle School and she will represent DeKalb County at the regional level.”
“In the 9th through 12th grade, which is DeKalb County High School, Jenny Norris is the Teacher of the Year and she will represent DeKalb County at the regional competition.
Should these teachers win at the regional, they will represent DeKalb County at the state level in March.
The Tennessee Teacher of the Year Program is designed to promote recognition, respect and appreciation for teachers; to stimulate interest in teaching as a career; and to encourage public involvement in education.
This program is sponsored annually by the Tennessee Department of Education and the Niswonger Foundation.
The Tennessee Teacher of the Year represents Tennessee at the National Teacher of the Year competition, which is sponsored by the Council of Chief State School Officers and Scholastic, Inc.
Teachers of the Year are selected competitively through five cycles: Building, System, Field Service Center Region, Grand Division and State; and from three categories (levels of teaching); Grades Pre K-4, 5-8, 9-12.
Teachers selected at each cycle receive local recognition and awards underwritten by local sources. State recognition/awards include a banquet honoring the nine State Teacher of the Year finalists and certificates of appreciation from the Governor. In addition, the State Finalists and the State Teacher of the Year receive cash awards from the Niswonger Foundation.