Knoxville City Council voted tonight to let voters choose whether to increase the Local Option Sales Tax by a ½ cent – a move that would enable the City to build up neighborhoods with more sidewalks, paved streets and park amenities while tripling the City’s commitment to affordable housing.

Council also voted that any new revenue be committed as detailed in Mayor Indya Kincannon’s Neighborhood Infrastructure Five-Year Investment Plan. 

Mayor Kincannon had pledged to provide annual reports and a publicly-accessible online project tracker to demonstrate that commitments made in the five-year plan are being delivered as promised. The Council’s vote will allow taxpayers to follow the money and see the results.

Click HERE for more on the five-year plan and of its priorities:

• Paving 75 additional miles of streets

• Much-needed repairs to existing greenways, public facilities and parks – plus, eight new greenway extensions

• New sidewalks close to schools

• An additional $10 million a year would be added to the City’s already historically large investment aimed at easing the local housing crisis

When she took office, Mayor Kincannon committed to budgeting at least $5 million a year for affordable housing – and she and Council have exceeded that pledge. For example, the 2025-26 budget allocates $8.2 million to affordable housing. 

The new sales-tax revenue would more than double the City’s support for affordable housing. And for every public dollar invested in affordable housing, the City has leveraged $15 through partnerships.

A majority of Council members supported putting the Local Option Sales Tax referendum on the Nov. 4 ballot.

"I really appreciate Council’s support," Mayor Kincannon said. "By committing to residents exactly how the new revenue would be allocated, Council district by Council district, we are ensuring complete accountability and transparency. 

"I encourage everyone to read the details of the five-year plan. They’ll see that these neighborhood investments are both strategic and even-handed in adding quality-of-life amenities to all neighborhoods."

Groceries would be exempt from the ½ cent Local Option Sales Tax increase.


In other City Council business tonight:


New Gay Street traffic signal poles

These signal poles are 40 years old and showing their age.

Council authorized Mayor Kincannon’s administration to execute an agreement for up to $890,000 with Stansell Electric Co. to replace poles and wiring at Gay Street intersections with Wall, Union, Clinch and Church avenues.

Council also authorized the Mayor to amend a contract with Gresham Smith for signal pole replacement engineering services for a new total amount of $172,000.


Knoxville Community Media

Council members approved a new contract with Knoxville Community Media to continue providing live and on-demand video streaming of dozens of public meetings. 

The resolution revises the City’s contract with KCM, formerly Community Television of Knoxville and CTV, to increase from 20 percent to 30 percent the amount KCM receives from the City’s cable franchise fee. 

The new contract begins July 1, 2025, for a five-year term with two options to renew for five years. The new percentage will increase the City’s funding of KCM by an additional $110,460 for FY 2026, making its total support for 2025-2026 fiscal year approximately $300,000 with the new 70 percent/30 percent franchise fee split.

This increase in support is due to the anticipated decline in franchise fees collected by the City as more people choose streaming services over traditional cable subscriptions. 

The cable franchise fee is a fee local governments charge cable television companies for the privilege of using public rights-of-way to provide cable service. This fee is a form of compensation to the City for allowing the cable company to utilize public space for its infrastructure, like cables and poles.

"Knoxville Community Media provides services that are valuable to the City and its residents for making important decisions and engaging in public process," Mayor Kincannon said. "This resolution supports KCM’s ongoing work to make public meetings available for residents, journalists, government staff and others who value this public information and the work KCM does in the community."

KCM Executive Director Amos Oaks said that, as people’s viewing habits change from traditional media to other platforms, KCM wants to change its approach.

"We take our responsibility very seriously – providing public access to public meetings is critical to free speech and democracy," Oaks said. "We appreciate the City’s recognition of KCM’s role in connecting residents to public process."

KCM has channels on cable systems Comcast 12, Charter 193, WOW! 6, KUB TV 1019 and apps available on Roku and Amazon Fire. 

It also streams live and posts on-demand video on its YouTube channel and its page at Archive.org  .