In its annual Pork Report published earlier this week, the Beacon Center of Tennessee highlighted three areas of waste, fraud, and abuse of Tennessee taxpayer money in East Tennessee. The report specifically identified the issues of the city of Knoxville’s lawsuit against Netflix and Hulu, synthetic turf athletic fields in Johnson City, and pickleball courts in Bristol.
A frivolous lawsuit in Knoxville that wasted taxpayer resources. $4.4 million for new sports fields in Johnson City. $1 million for pickleball courts in Bristol. All of these Pork Report entries are courtesy of East Tennessee. https://t.co/BRrNue0r1q pic.twitter.com/jU3Q69YyxX
— Beacon Center of TN (@BeaconTN) December 14, 2022
The Beacon Center first cited the city of Knoxville’s lawsuit against Netflix in Hulu as a waste of taxpayer money in East Tennessee. The report claims that the city’s lawsuit against the streaming services was frustrating as the city lost money as residents got rid of cable. A victory in the lawsuit for the city would have raised taxes on the streaming services; however, in November, the Tennessee Supreme Court sided with the streaming companies ruling that they do not need to pay franchise fees to localities.
“Governments should not punish technological innovations that provide consumers with better ways to watch their favorite shows,” the Beacon Center writes in its report.
The report then cites the allocation of $4.4 million of taxpayer money in Bristol for constructing two synthetic turf softball fields and two grass soccer fields after paying $13 million on five baseball diamonds last year.
“The fact that Johnson City keeps pretending that these fields represent some kind of positive economic development to the area is misleading at best […] Elected officials need to stop making unforced errors by spending money on unnecessary luxuries like baseball and softball fields in the name of economic development and should instead focus on core government services,” the Beacon Center writes.
The report then cites the construction of pickleball courts in Bristol, for which the city has set aside $1 million. According to the report, each court will cost taxpayers $50,000 each and provide “no guarantee of economic return.”
“If there was a need for pickleball courts in Bristol, it would be a profitable venture and the government wouldn’t have to do it […] Elected officials need to stop putting taxpayers in a pickle by building stadiums, courses, and courts better left to the private sector,” the report adds.
The Beacon Center’s acknowledgment of the waste of money spent in Bristol and Johnson City on athletic fields and courts aligns with the report’s ‘Pork of the Year,’ which was the funding and proposals of many sports stadiums across the state.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network.
Photo “Knoxville Skyline” by Nathan C. Fortner. CC BY-SA 3.0.
