The City Council passed a purchase order Tuesday night for $20,000, getting the city back in the business of using goats to munch kudzu.
Chattanooga passed on a similar goat contract last year because of money constraints.
Steve Leach, administrator of the Department of Public Works, told council members that the goats are used on steep, inaccessible property such as Missionary Ridge.
“We would use them on property where personnel couldn’t go on,” he said.
Councilwoman Pam Ladd supported the expenditure.
“It’s not a ba-aa-aa-aa-d idea, is it?” she asked.
A LOT ON THE AGENDA
On Tuesday, Dan Johnson, chief of staff for Mayor Ron Littlefield, started to go over this week’s agenda for the Chattanooga City Council – but the agenda showed nothing on it.
“It has all the makings of the shortest council meeting ever,” Johnson said.
“It depends upon how long Councilwoman [Deborah] Scott prays,” replied Councilman Peter Murphy.
AREA TAX RATES RANK LOW
Even without a state income tax, property taxes in Tennessee still are below the national median of $1,917, the Tax Foundation said last week.
The average homeowner in Hamilton County paid $1,254 in property taxes last year – the third-highest among major counties in the state, according to census data analyzed by the Tax Foundation.
With a median home value of $148,800, Hamilton County taxpayers paid an average of 2.22 percent of their income in property taxes in 2009.
Among the 19 biggest counties in Tennessee, Hamilton County ranked behind only Shelby and Davidson counties in the average property tax bill last year.
Bradley County had the third-lowest property tax rate among the state’s biggest 19 counties with an average bill last year of $694. The median home is Bradley County was valued for tax purposes at $129,500, according to census data.
In Dalton’s Whitfield County, the average property tax bill in 2009 was $737 and the median home price was valued at $127,600.
Staff Writers Cliff Hightower, Andy Johns and Dave Flessner contributed to this report.