TACIR outlines reports on major municipal issues

By KATE COIL

TT&C Assistant Editor

The Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations (TACIR) has outlined proposals tied to key municipal issues including emergency services and public notices.  

During TACIR’s June meeting, members approved a draft report on ambulance services as well as research plans for law enforcement officer compensation, government public notices, and emergency communications systems. 

AMBULANCE SERVICES 

TACIR’s research team has submitted a draft report on ambulance services, ultimately recommending that cities and counties continue to explore mutually beneficial avenues of cost-sharing and improvements but that the General Assembly not move forward with a legislative proposal related to these services. 

The report was commissioned in response to Public Chapter 413, Acts of 2025 – which grew out of Senate Bill 160 by Sen. Joey Hensley, R-Hohenwald, and House Bill 83 by Rep. Kip Capley, R-Summertown, in the 114th General Assembly. 

The issue initially arose when Maury County sought additional funding from the city of Columbia to alleviate costs associated with ambulance service. The bills introduced by Hensley and Capley would have required “a municipality that does not provide ambulance service to reimburse the county for such service in proportion to” the percentage of the county’s population housed within the city or up to 50% service’s total cost.  

Municipal stakeholders argued they already paid county taxes that provided for ambulance services, and this would create double taxation on municipal residents. Additionally, there were concerns cities would start their own ambulance services to avoid the payments, resulting in counties paying even more to provide service.  

The commission was directed to study the economic impact of ambulance services on counties, which counties provide services directly versus those who franchise them, which municipalities provide ambulance services, and whether policy changes would benefit ambulance services.  

Additionally, the commission was directed to study emergency and non-emergency transport from commercial payers, Medicare, and Medicaid, as well as how local governments fund the deficit at which these services operate. 

The report found that, since a new state law designated ambulance services as essential for counties to provide, costs for these services have increased from $1.8 million in Fiscal Year 2020-21 to $2.7 million in Fiscal Year 2023-24. A recently proposed rule that caps TennCare payments may put further pressure on counties’ ability to finance ambulance services.  

Recommendations in the draft include: 

• the General Assembly create a recurring fund for ambulance equipment grants, as is done for other state-required county services, 
• increasing the amount of training centers for ambulance services from the current limit of 30 under state law, and 
• contracting with third-party billing companies to increase collections, expand non-emergency transport, share medical directors, and fill revenue claims. 

Both the memo issued to the commission and the the full draft report are available for public review online. 

PUBLIC NOTICES 

With public notices legally required for governments to promote transparency and allow citizen participation in government actions, a state law was passed in 2014 that amended the requirements for newspapers of record to publish public notices in both print editions as well as online. It also established a statewide public notice website maintained by the Tennessee Press Association. 

The law was amended again in 2024 to require public notices to also be published on a separate news or information website if available. However, as newspaper consumption – particularly for print newspapers – has changed over time – many local governments have questioned if this requirement is still cost effective or uses public funds for an outdated method of communication.  

In response, Sen. Bill Powers, R-Clarksville, and Rep. John Crawford, R-Bristol, introduced Senate Bill 2450 and House Bill 2114, respectively, in the General Assembly, which would allow local governments to post public notices on local government or third-party websites rather than in newspapers. It was later amended to direct the commission to determine if newspapers are the most efficient and effective manner to provide public notices, becoming Public Chapter 1137, Acts of 2026. 

TACIR will be conducting interviews and assembling evidence through December 2026 with intentions to contact local government leaders and TML members. The draft report to the commission for comments on the issue is expected to be presented at TACIR’s Spring 2027 commission meeting with the final report to be submitted for approval at the Summer 2027 meeting.  

TACIR has also published a full research plan for the report.  

LAW ENFORCEMENT COMPENSATION 

With many local governments concerned about recruitment, staffing, and retention of law enforcement officers, TACIR has been commissioned to study how salaries and other benefits influence the ability to attract officers. 

The study was commissioned based on Senate Bill 2177 sponsored by Sen. Ken Yager, R-Kingston, and House Bill 2204 sponsored by Rep. Ryan Williams, R-Cookeville, which ultimately became Public Chapter 1121, Acts of 2026. The bill directs TACIR to study how: 

• current salaries and benefits paid to state and local enforcement officers affect recruitment, staffing, and retention, particularly in smaller city and county departments, and evaluate potential alternatives for improvement, and 
• state salary increases and adjustments for state law enforcement officers affect recruitment, staffing, and retention of local law enforcement officers. 

In addition to how these issues are impacting local departments, the study will also look into similar efforts made for recruitment and retention by the Tennessee Department of Correction. The outline notes that “smaller cities and counties often have more limited tax bases and budgets, which can restrict funding for personnel and make it difficult to offer competitive compensation packages.” 

TACIR assembled evidence for the report through June 2026 with research ongoing until September 2026. A draft report is expected to the commission for comments at the Fall 2026 TACIR meeting with a final report projected for the January 2027 meeting.  

TACIR has also published a full research plan for the report.  

EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS 

In 2015, Tennessee became one of the first states in the nation to switch to a digital 911 system known as Next Generation 911, allowing for new types of data exchange and wireless communication, like texting. Operated by the Tennessee Emergency Communications Board, the system also provides redundancy in case any other 911 districts go offline.  

At present, Tennessee has 100 emergency communications districts (ECDs) serving local jurisdictions to provide 911 services, each governed by a local board of directors. These ECDs cannot levy or collect taxes and have previously relied on telephone service fees to fund 911 services. This was changed in 2015 when a flat $1.16 fee was implemented on all telecommunications devices, and the rate was increased to $1.50 in 2021.  

While the 114th General Assembly passed Senate Joint Resolution 48 to increase the fee to $1.86, the bill was vetoed by Gov. Bill Lee. As a result, TACIR has been commissioned to study the state’s emergency communications system, focusing on: 

• an analysis of the current funding model for emergency communications systems in Tennessee and comparable funding models in other states, 
• operating structures and organizational charts of all ECDs,  
• methods to increase operational and financial consistency and uniformity of all ECDs, 
• the consolidation of ECDs and ECD call sharing, particularly in rural areas,  
• potential benefits of a uniform, statewide ECD system, and 
• an analysis of requiring direct dispatch protocols. 

TACIR will engage evidence gathering on the issue until August 2026 with research projected to end in September 2026. A draft report is expected to be provided to the commission at the Fall 2026 meeting with a final report to the commission at the January 2027 meeting. TACIR has also published a full research plan for the report.  

The full June 2026 TACIR meeting can also be viewed along with agenda items and reports online.