Author

Rob Mitchell

Rob Mitchell

Assessor for Rutherford County Middle Tennessee Assessor of the Year Five Time President of the Middle Tennessee Association of Assessing Officers Rob Mitchell serves as property assessor for Rutherford County. He's won the John C. Donehoo Award from the International Association of Assessing Officers, the Excellence in Operations Award and the Three Star Office Certification Award.

COMMENTARY
Home ownership is key to generational wealth, but Real Estate Investment Trusts profiting in Middle Tennessee's low-income neighborhoods raise barriers to owning. (Photo: Getty Images)

Home ownership and the “American Dream” are crushed by Real Estate Investment Trusts

By: - August 22, 2022

A big economic division between renters and homeowners is apparent when looking at net worth: For homeowners, the median net worth of $231,400 is about 44 times the median net worth of renters, which is $5,200. Dr. Ken Chilton of Tennessee State University has studied the impact of Real Estate Investment Trusts on the housing […]

COMMENTARY
President Ronald Reagan signing Voting Rights Act legislation in the East Room of the White House on June 29, 1982. National Archives from Collection: Reagan White House Photographs

Commentary: Time for America return to 1980s can-do populism

By: - November 13, 2020

The populist conservative movement known as the New Right enjoyed unprecedented growth in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Its greatest salesman was  Ronald Reagan. It appealed to evangelical Christians, anti-tax crusaders, advocates of deregulation and smaller markets, advocates of a more powerful American presence abroad,  disaffected white liberals, and defenders of an unrestricted free […]

COMMENTARY
(Photo: Getty Images)

Commentary: The case for property taxes

By: - August 13, 2020

Property taxes are generally levied by cities, counties and other local-level administrative bodies. They are the primary source of revenue at these levels of government. These taxes pay the lion’s share of the expenses for basic services provided by a city or county: Local road maintenance/signs/lights Utilities infrastructure (water/wastewater/trash are typically city-administered; electrical and telecom […]