Twenty cities were asked whether they have a city attorney, paralegals, and a city manager, as well as questions about the city attorney's annual budget and salary, plus, if the city manager has a contract.
| City attorney City manager City manager--Contracts |
Cities are granted the right to impose taxes to raise public funds in Article II , § 29 of the Tennessee Constitution, which states: “The General Assembly shall have power to authorize the several counties and incorporated towns in this State, to impose taxes for County and Corporation purposes, respectively....” From this language has grown the public purpose doctrine, which dictates that public funds and public resources can be used only for public purposes. City credit may be extended and used for a public purpose, under which a private firm or corporation does receive benefit, but such lending of credit must be authorized by referendum vote or by specific statutory authority absent such a vote.
| Public purpose Finance--Use of public funds Municipal government--Finance--Laws and regulations State government--Constitution State government--Tennessee Tennessee--Laws and regulations Tennessee |
MTAS was asked whether a city could prohibit or limit the hours of construction and of garage sales on Sunday.
| Laws and regulations--Municipal--Tennessee Municipal government--Laws and regulations |
List generated from internal research on charter provisions of all cities regarding general law mayor-alderman municipalities that allow non-resident voting in municipal elections.
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Non-resident voting Paris 12-6-23.xlsx
(87.2 KB)
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| Elections--Residency requirements Charters--City--Tennessee |
This MTAS CityByte is available here: https://rise.articulate.com/share/vwymqejek-98kDjFmQkU-Yp5yHg-fB3t#/
The Tennessee General Assembly adopted a law in 2025 authorizing most municipal governing bodies to allow a member to participate in meetings electronically. The new law is codified at Tennessee Code Annotated § 6-54-149. This CityByte explains the law and the requirements municipalities must meet to exercise this authority.
| Meetings City council--Procedure Boards Boards--Municipal Tennessee |
MTAS Legal Consultant Stephanie Allen O'Hara responded to a request for information from a Tennessee city regarding conflict of interest and city officials.
| Conflict of interests City attorney Municipal government Ethics |
MTAS was asked whether the board of mayor and aldermen can compel the mayor to sign a certain "contract."
| Contracts Intergovernmental agreements |
Eighteen Tennessee cities responded to a request for information regarding employee health insurance, paid leave, paid holidays and retirement benefits.
| Personnel--Compensation Personnel--Fringe benefits |
MTAS was asked about the possibility of the city requiring a permit for short-term rental properties such as AirBnBs. The referenced documents from Pigeon Forge are available for download in the Attachments section of this record. The documents from Cumberland Gap are available in a separate record.
| Licenses and permits Vacation rentals--Laws and legislation--Tennessee Zoning--Ordinances Winchester (Tenn) |
MTAS was asked whether the city attorney can hold the position of chancery court judge.
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Chancery Court Judge public.pdf
(201.66 KB)
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| City attorney Conflict of interests Courts--Judges Personnel--Administration |