TACIR Considers Numerous Topics of Interest to County Government
The Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations (TACIR), held its first meetings of 2023 this week on Thursday and Friday. Thursday’s afternoon meeting included reports on the infrastructure needs of state and local governments and an update on TVA in lieu of taxes. Friday’s session included a panel of experts on passenger rail service.
The current TACIR infrastructure needs report is the twenty-first in the series and presents $62.9 billion of needed infrastructure improvements reported by state and local officials. This most recent inventory includes projects that need to be in some stage of development during the five-year period July 2021 through June 2026. The report includes a single statewide overview chapter that provides information by type of infrastructure, the condition and needs of our public school facilities, the availability of funding to meet reported needs, and a comparison of county-area needs. One-page summaries for each county area are also included that list the estimated cost for all types of infrastructure by stage of development.
There is positive news with regard to TVA payment in lieu of tax (PILOT) revenue. The annual TACIR update reports that TVA estimates the total PILOT for federal fiscal year 2022-23 will be $611 million—an increase of $99 million—with payments to Tennessee estimated to increase by $65 million to a total of $410 million. This is primarily the result of increases in TVA’s fuel costs for natural gas, a cost it passes on to customers. For the state’s 2022-23 fiscal year, allocations will increase by an estimated $15.4 million for counties, $6.6 million for cities, and $24.4 million for state’s own agencies. Materials from this January 2023 meeting of TACIR can be accessed by clicking the button below.
