Under normal industrial situations the plants would be paying taxes to the City of Oak Ridge, which taxes normally would carry a large portion of the City's financial burden. That the plants are Federally-owned should not influence the Federal Government's view of the burden which those plants necessarily impose on the local government, nor prevent assistance at the Federal level to the extent that there are not local revenues available to carry the burdens. This principle, recognized in Section 168 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, is retained verbatim from the Atomic Energy Act of 1946. The payments which are presently being made to the City of Oak Ridge are made under authority of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as cited above, and in accordance with Chapter 9, Section 91, of the Atomic Energy Community Act of 1955 (Public Law 84-221) which provides as follows: "Payments made under this section shall be payments made for special burdens imposed on the local governmental entities in accordance with the second sentence of Section 168 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954." The special burden which is imposed on the community is the burden of maintaining services at a level which will not impede the recruitment and retention of the high caliber personnel necessary for the continued successful accomplishment of the goals and objectives of the atomic energy program. In reviewing the foregoing discussion, it is evident that the Atomic Energy Commission is unqualifiedly authorized to furnish financial assistance to the City of Oak Ridge. Furthermore, in light of the broad national and international purposes upon which the City was founded and for which it continues to exist, and in light of the burdens imposed on the local government by the Federal operation in the area, there is an unqualified obligation for furnishing continued financial assistance, and there is an available vehicle for accomplishing such a purpose through amendment of Public Law 221. BIBLIOGRAPHY "American Municipal News." Nation's Cities, 2 (October, 1964) 29. Atomic Energy Commission. AEC Handbook on Oak Ridge Operations. U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. Planning for an Incorporated Oak Ridge. U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, Oak Ridge Operations Office, Community Affairs Division, 1954, Bureau of the Census. County and City Data Book, 1962. U.S. Department of City of Oak Ridge. Annual Budget for the City of Oak Ridge, Tennessee for the Jacobs, J. L. and Company. Report on Survey of Incorporation of Municipal Moore, Lyman S. "Report on Operation of Atomic Energy Commission Towns." Unpublished study, conducted for the United States Atomic Energy Commis sion, 1948. The Municipal Year Book 1965. International City Managers' Association, Chicago, 1965. Oak Ridge Board of Education. Minutes of Special Meeting. Oak Ridge, Tennessee, November 2, 1964. Sapirie, S. R., Manager, U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. "Complete Text of Talk by Ridge AEC Chief." The Oak Ridger, February 4, 1965, pp. 1 and 4. School Management. 9 (January, 1965) 100-185. Scurry, R. G., et al. Report and Recommendations of the Panel on Community Operations in Oak Ridge and Richland. Washington, D.C., 1951. Skidmore, Owings and Merrill. A Report to the Atomic Energy Commission on the Master Plan, Oak Ridge, Tennessee. 1948. Stokely, E. E., Assistant to the Manager for Public Education, Oak Ridge Operations, U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, 1965. Study Committee on Payments in Lieu of Taxes and Shared Revenues. Payments in Lieu of Taxes and Shared Revenues. Commission on Intergovernmental Relations, 1955. Tennessee Taxpayers' Association. Sales and Use Tax Collections. Tennessee Taxpayers' Association, Nashville, Tennessee, 1964. United States Congress. Hearing Before the Ad Hoc Subcommittee on Disposal of Government-Owned Communities of the Joint Committee on Atomic Energy. 34th Congress, 1st Session. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 1955. United States Congress. Public Law 221-Atomic Energy Community Act of 1955. 84th Congress, 1st Session, 1955. United States Congress. Report No. 1402-Atomic Energy Community Act of 1955. 84th Congress, 1st Session, Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 19.5. United States Senate. Congressional Record, Washington, D.C. (July 29, 1955) 10531. University of Tennessee, College of Education. A Survey of the Oak Ridge City Schools. University of Tennessee, Knoxville, 1964. Walsh, J. "Oak Ridge: 20 Years After, Diversification is the Goal." Science, 150 (Nov. 12, 1965) 863-865. APPENDIX 19 PROGRESS REPORTS BY ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION AND DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT CONCERNING OPERATIONS UNDER ATOMIC ENERGY COMMUNITY ACT OF 1955 (August 14 and 25, 1967) Hon. JOHN O. PASTORE, ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION, Washington, D.C., August 14, 1967. Chairman, Joint Commitee on Atomic Energy, DEAR SENATOR PASTORE: Section 102 of the Atomic Energy Community Act of 1955, as amended, states that the Atomic Energy Commission shall present to the Joint Committee on Atomic Energy a full review of its activities under that Act every three years. In accordance with that provision, there is enclosed the Commission's Fourth Progress Report. Cordially, W. E. JOHNSON, FOURTH PROGRESS REPORT1 Activities of the Atomic Energy Commission Under the Atomic Energy Community Act of 1955, as amended, for the Three-Year Period of July 1, 1964, to June 30, 1967 GENERAL Under the Atomic Energy Community Act of 1955, as amended, the Atomic Energy Commission is authorized to make annual assistance payments for a tenyear period to the communities of Oak Ridge, Tennessee; Richland, Washington; and Los Alamos, New Mexico. Assistance payments began in FY 1959 for Oak Ridge and Richmond, and in FY 1964 for Los Alamos. The Act further provides that AEC present to the Joint Committee on Atomic Energy recommendations as to the need for further assistance not less than six months prior to the expiration of the ten-year period. Although, under provisions of the Act, the ten-year period does not expire for the entities at Oak Ridge and Richland until FY 1969, budgetary schedules of both the communities and the AEC dictate that action to arrive at decisions concerning assistance beyond the original ten-year period established by the Act be made well in advance of that date. Accordingly, the AEC, on July 28, 1967, forwarded to the Joint Committee a report covering the Commission's review of the need for further assistance. This report recommends an extension of financial assistance authority through June 1979. At the same time, proposed legislation to accomplish this was also furnished. Specifically, within the recommended time extension, the Commission is recommending that: (1) AEC payments to Oak Ridge be discontinued at such time as the amount of school assistance available through the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare under P.L. 874 (or other similar program) and increases in the City tax base or revenue from other sources permit the City of Oak Ridge to become self-sufficient, and (2) AEC make lump-sum payments in FY 1970 to the City of Richland and the Richland School District and, thereafter, discontinue regular assistance payments. 1 As required by sec. 102 of Public Law 221, 84th Cong., as amended. OAK RIDGE, TENNESSEE As of the previous report of August 14, 1964, all of the real estate at Oak Ridge had been sold. Activity under the Act in the past three years has been confined to assistance payments. Payments for the last three years were as follows: Fiscal year: 1965 1966 1967 1111 $1,252, 000 1, 302, 480 1, 373, 160 School support is included in these payments. The hospital, transferred to the Oak Ridge Hospital of the Methodist Church in 1960, continues to be selfsupporting; and no assistance payments are expected to be required. Assistance payments are made to the City of Oak Ridge on the basis of a formula which incorporates a base amount ($1,252,000) that is adjusted in direct relation to the City's adjustment of its property tax rate above or below $1.24 per hundred. The agreement also incorporates certain additional safeguards which can be invoked by the AEC if necessary to assure that the payments are just and reasonable. Since adoption of this agreement, the City's tax rate has increased from $1.24 to the 1967 rate of $1.46. Further increases in the tax rate will probably be required in order to meet the $6 million cost of new school and municipal facilities recently authorized by the voters. RICHLAND, WASHINGTON All community real estate at Richland, Washington, has now been sold. Following is a final summary of the real estate sales: Assistance payments to the City and the School District for the last three fiscal years were as follows: Assistance payments to the Richland School District continue to be in amounts equal to those which the School District would otherwise have received under P.L. 874. In addition, annual payments have been made for AEC's share of interest and bond redemption cost of the $1,800,000 bond issue for construction of extensive building replacements and additions to the high school. To supplement operating funds from the State, the AEC, and other sources, the School Board has obtained approval of the voters of the District for an additional tax levy on several occasions. The approved annual levies have been as follows: Kadlec Methodist Hospital has been on a self-supporting basis since June 30, 1961 and, in addition, has been accumulating funds for eventual construction of a modern hospital building to replace the wartime-constructed building now in use. No assistance payments have been made to the hospital since 1961. The tenyear assistance period for the hospital expired in 1966; and, by letter dated November 3, 1965, the Commission recommended to the Joint Committee, that no provision be made for assistance payments beyond the ten-year period. LOS ALAMOS, NEW MEXICO During the period since the Commission's Third Report considerable progress has been made in the termination of Government ownership at Los Alamos. A large part of the real estate has been transferred and all community utility systems and municipal functions, including real property, except the fire department, have been transferred and are now handled by Los Alamos County. All school facilities at Los Alamos were transferred to the Los Alamos County Board of Educational Trustees (LACBET), on July 1, 1966. Assistance payments to cover school operations began at that time. LACBET has operated the public school system at Los Alamos for the AEC since September 1, 1949. Effective July 1, 1967, the municipal functions and utility systems, including real estate and related personal property, were transferred to Los Alamos County. Assistance payments to meet the needs of the County were instituted at that time. The Los Alamos telephone system was also transferred on July 1, 1967 to Mountain State Telephone and Telegraph Company, at a price of approximately $935,000. As previously reported, the Los Alamos Hospital was transferred to the Lutheran Hospitals and Homes Society of America, Inc. on January 1, 1964; and assistance payments have been made to that organization since that time. Appraisals and actual sales of Government-owned real property are being conducted by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (DHUD). Details on the sales program are to be reported by that agency. The sale program includes the following types of properties: residential (single-family houses and duplex units); scattered residential lots; vacant residential tracts; church and non-profit properties; leased and unleased commercial properties; and multifamily housing. In late 1966, the AEC, with the cooperation of DHUD, established an ad hoc committee to review the proposed methods of sale of multifamily housing under the Community Act. The ad hoc committee subsequently recommended certain changes to the Atomic Energy Community Act of 1955, as amended. The Commission has endorsed these recommendations, and appropriate legislation has been introduced to amend that Act. During the same period, a special AEC committee reviewed the proposed plan for the disposition of the Denver Steel housing. Based on this review, the Commission revised an earlier decision not to include the Denver Steel housing in the community disposition program. Under the revised determination, 193 western Denver Steel houses are being offered for sale to occupants holding priorities in the same manner as other Government-owned single family houses previously sold at Los Alamos. The remaining 50 eastern Denver Steel houses will be removed and the real estate sold for redevelopment. Sale of land by the AEC for private housing construction was discontinued by the AEC in 1965 in view of the imminent sale of Government-owned real estate. A total of 1,173 houses have been completed or are under construction in the three housing development areas known as Barranca Mesa, White Rock and Pajarito Acres. In addition, there are 401 developed lots in these areas on which private homes can still be constructed. Sale of this developed land is now a responsibility of the DHUD, the land having been transferred by AEC to that agency under the Atomic Energy Community Act. The AEC remains responsible, however, for the operation and maintenance of all unsold Government-owned improved property remaining in the community. In Los Alamos, assistance payments during the period were as follows: |