NASHVILLE, TN - With Barack Obama’s support in rural Tennessee drying up, Tennessee Democrats are getting desperate to save the campaigns of local Obamacrats like Becky Ruppe by launching an attack ad against Republican state Senate candidate Ken Yager.

The ad falsely depicts Yager as tax-raiser, even though the Roane County property tax rate was lower, the county’s credit rating was higher, and its economy humming when Yager left office after 24 years as County Executive than it was when he first entered the office - thanks to Yager’s responsible fiscal management and his success in economic development.

“Just as Barack Obama lies about his support for tax increases, his fellow Democrats in Tennessee like Becky Ruppe are lying about Ken’s record, out of desperation,” said Bill Hobbs, communications director for the Tennessee Republican Party. “Ken absolutely did not increase property tax rates by 45 percent in Roane County - property values went up, thanks to Ken’s success in building the Roane County economy.”

Roane County’s debt involves bonds for improved roads and other infrastructure - and Ken’s leadership improved Roane County’s credit rating, saving taxpayers’ money on those investments in growing Roane County’s economy.

“Democrats are trying to hide Becky Ruppe’s poor record of management in Morgan County by trying to tear down Ken’s record of achievement - He has brought high paying jobs to Roane County and the industrial park Ken built has attracted millions of dollars in new investment,” Hobbs said. “Democrats are merely trying to divert voters from Ruppe’s dismal record of fiscal management. Ruppe’s Morgan County has a higher tax rate and a higher unemployment rate than Ken Yager’s Roane County, and according to a state audit, under her leadership, Morgan County twice broke state laws governing how county governments may make purchases.” (Morgan County Annual Financial Report)

Roane County’s property rate is $2.63, lower than the $2.99 tax rate in Ruppe’s Morgan County. (2007 Tennessee Property Tax Rates) Roane County’s August 2008 unemployment rate was 5.9 percent, which is below the statewide unemployment rate of 7 percent, while Morgan County’s unemployment rate was 7.3 percent, higher than the statewide rate. (Non-seasonably-adjusted numbers for state and counties. Labor Force Estimates)

The Morgan County budget has increased 23 percent since Ruppe became County Executive in 2004. Spending in her office alone has risen 24 percent. And all that spending appears to be badly mismanaged.

“The state audit also found that Ruppe’s administration had more than $14,700 cash missing from the County Clerk’s office, a Treasurer’s office that wasn’t reconciling its books monthly and a school system that overspent its budget by more than $100,000 - and auditors said that not enough was done to delegate responsibility within the County offices,” Hobbs said.