November 2, 2007

TACIR Report Update: More Errors?

Earlier today I blogged an article in Thursday's Shelbyville Times-Gazette which revealed that the Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations had grossly over-estimated the amount of new school construction is needed in Bedford County, and questioned whether the rest of the TACIR report, a look at public infrastructure needs statewide, was error-free.

I'm not the only one asking that question. Brian Mosely, the Shelbyville reporter who wrote the intial reporter, not only came back today with a follow-up story on how TACIR over-estimated the needs of the Bedford County school system by $81 million dollars - he also is prepping a story for tomorrow about TACIR's estimates for Bedford County's infrastructure needs for transportation and water/wastewater. Says Mosely, "Officials I spoke with are also wondering about where the data came from that was used to compile these figures."

If the TACIR report has multiple errors just in the figures used for one county, how can we trust that it is accurate for the other 98 counties? The Shelbyville Times-Gazette is doing good work, but this story deserves an examination of TACIR's figures statewide by the state's capitol hill press corps.