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Published on: 06/12/2026

McMinnville receives Municipal League award for Excellence in Overall Municipal Governance

Downtown McMinnville
McMinnville officials knew they wanted to align their strategic planning, budgeting, organizational structure, economic development, and public communication into a unified and performance-driven system based on services providing value to the public. (Photo by McMinnville)

Known as the Nursery Capital of the World, officials in the city of McMinnville know that managing a growing city also includes planning, organization, and occasionally tough decisions. 

City Hall Meeting
Stakeholders and city officials gather at McMinnville's city hall for a meeting. The city has worked on organizational restructuring, employee incentives, data-driven initiatives, and transparent governance to make the city operate more efficiently for both residents and municipal employees. (Photo by McMinnville)

For the city’s comprehensive Municipal Governance Transportation Initiative and its success in systemically modernizing and aligning the entire city government to deliver measurable public value, the Tennessee Municipal League (TML) is pleased to present the city of McMinnville with an award for Excellence in Overall Municipal Governance. The award will be presented at the 86th Annual Conference of the Tennessee Municipal League (TML) held at the MeadowView Conference Resort & Convention Center in Kingsport, Tenn. 

McMinnville officials knew they wanted to align their strategic planning, budgeting, organizational structure, economic development, and public communication into a unified and performance-driven system based on services providing value to the public. To this end, the city settled on six major goals:  

  • Transitioning to structurally balanced, performance-informed budgeting, supported by ClearGov to enhance transparency   
  • Organizational restructuring that created of an in-house Tourism & Marketing Department and integrating tourism into the city’s broader economic development strategy   
  • The first full, comprehensive update and digitization of the municipal code since 2006 to improving access and administrative efficiency  
  • Consistent public communication tools, including the “Weekly Wrap Up” and “Inside McMinnville”   
  • Implementation of the “Living Our Values” program, integrating employee recognition with direct public feedback, while promoting organizational values   
  • Strategic alignment of tourism, infrastructure, and economic development through a unified planning framework   

As a result of implementing these strategies, the city has ensured that decisions, financial resources, and community investment are maximized for long term impact. The initiative has seen the city increase budget execution from 85-90% to 98%, eliminated duplication of services, improved internal efficiencies by reducing outdated or inconsistent regulations, and strengthened cross-department collaboration.  

McMinnville City Employees Honored
The city's "Living Our Values" program has worked to recognize municipal employees who go above and beyond to make McMinnville a great place to live, work, and play. (Photo by McMinnville)

The city also implemented the “Living Our Values” program, which functions as a real-time performance management system for municipal employees. The program offers peer-to-peer recognition aligned with the city’s core service values, helps establish public feedback through postcards and open communications channels, and allows citizens to recognize employees who have gone above and beyond the call of duty. Within the first quarter of implementation, the program recognized 39 city employees, demonstrating strong engagement and showcasing the valuable contributions of municipal staff.  

Citizens now have more transparency in how their government is run through consistent public communications, accessible data, multi-channel public feedback systems, advanced quality of life-initiatives, and a continuous feedback loop between citizens and city operations that has led to numerous improvements.  

Using a data-driven model, the city has also improved its tourism initiatives by focusing on accommodation, grants, infrastructure and connectivity, and engagement. This allowed the city to launch its first strategic plan for tourism and use digital platforms and target marketing campaigns to prioritize high-value demographics. By ensuring that data backs decisions, the city has seen 12.4% growth in average monthly visitors over the past year with total trips increasing by 7.7% and more than 619,700 overnight stays in local hotels in one year. Currently, visitors account for 32% of all restaurant spending, an 11% increase.  

Funds generated from tourism both benefit the local business community and in turn, help fund quality-of-life enhancements for citizens. Revenue from sales and consumption taxes has stablized the local tax base and allowed for reinvestment in the community including:  

  • Approximately $100,000 in annual solid waste savings 
  • Helping leverage state, federal, and nonprofit grants to improve parks, river access, and connectivity 
  • Strengthening the communities long-term fiscal stability through diversified revenue streams, and  
  • Maintaining an A1 credit rating.  

Ultimately, the initiatives goal is not just to improve services but also create a sustainable model where governance, economic vitality, and qualify of life reinforce one another and work together to create a more resilient and strong municipality, poised for future growth and new opportunity.  

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