City leaders from across the Upper Cumberland say infrastructure needs and bill proposals highlighted this year’s Tennessee Municipal League’s Legislative Conference in Nashville.
Algood City Administrator Keith Morrison said most of the conversation last week centered on rising costs and the financial challenges cities are facing. Morrison said the discussion primarily focused on the growing cost of infrastructure projects and road construction.
“The Tennessee Road Builders Association was there talking about funding issues and state roads and increases of how things have went up,” Morrison said. “You know, I was kind of surprised at some of the increases. I knew we were seeing increases, but I had not realized they were as large as they were.”
According to the Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations, Tennessee faces an estimated $82.7 billion in infrastructure needs, a $5 billion increase from the previous year. Livingston Mayor Lori Elder Burnett highlighted the need for road improvements in her city, saying the rising cost of construction makes it challenging to fund street projects.
“We have multiple city streets that need some resurfacing,” Burnett said. “It is hard in a general fund budget to fund city streets because everything, especially in the construction world, has gone up significantly, and our revenues have not increased like everything else we pay for here at the city.”
Morrison said he also learned that state leaders are also working to pass legislation requiring cities to submit their fiscal year budgets by August 31.
“I think it’s always a focus to keep cities on target and where they need to be,” Morrison said. “It’s really important for the state that cities are able to get their budget passed on time and ready for the new year.”
Morrison said Algood has not had issues passing its budget before the deadline in recent years. He added that during the conference, state officials noted that about 86 percent of Tennessee cities submit their budgets on time.
Burnett said she used the conference to meet leaders from TML and other cities. Burnett said she also focused on an initiative to continue a bill that would allow Livingston to continue receiving a portion of its sales tax revenue back from the state for downtown improvements. Burnett said those monies have been quite beneficial to improving downtown Livingston.
“That one is near and dear to us,” Burnett said. “We have actually been able to make more money for the state as a result of it while improving our downtown.”
Morrison said another issue discussed among city leaders was the possibility of the state sharing more sales tax revenue with municipalities. Morrison said that additional funding could help cities continue providing services without relying heavily on property taxes.
“We have asked the state for several years to share the sales tax where they increased the sales tax back years ago,” Morrison said. “They did not share it with the cities like they have done in the past, and we have asked them to share that again.”
Morrison said that while cities across the state have long pushed for a larger share of sales tax revenue, he sees little chance of state legislators making changes in the near term. Still, he emphasized that conferences like this provide a valuable opportunity for local officials to speak directly with state leaders about the needs of their communities.
“They give us a chance to talk with the legislators, to meet with other local governments, help each other, and communicate with the state,” Morrison said. “It is important for us to be down there talking with the state officials and letting them know what’s going on back home in our communities.”