Mayor Kincannon, Senior Staff, City Council Meet Feb. 11, 2022 for Mid-Year Budget Review

Mayor Indya Kincannon, senior City staff and City Council members met on Friday, Feb. 11, 2022 at the Public Works Service Center for a mid-year budget review and updates on major City initiatives.

The retreat is the first step in the public process of preparing a budget for the 2022-23 fiscal year, which culminates with Mayor Kincannon’s State of the City budget presentation on April 22, 2022.

The presentations from the retreat are available below. If you missed the discussion, Community Television of Knoxville (CTV) recorded the proceedings, which can be viewed at www.ctvknox.org starting this weekend (Feb. 12-13, 2022).

Chief Financial Officer Susan Gennoe led a discussion about the City’s financial health. Highlights included:

The City’s careful financial stewardship continues to maximize taxpayers’ money. The City’s all-time historically strong bond ratings allow the City to borrow at lower rates.

The City performed better than projected economically in FY 2020-21. In the current Fiscal Year 2021-22, sales tax revenues have increased and property tax collections remain strong. Local-option sales tax revenues are up 21 percent year to date over the prior year.

Fiscal Year 21-22 total debt is $180 million. By FY 22-23, total debt will decrease to $166 million – a result of a front-loaded debt structure that decreases the principal rapidly.

Still, the City is a service-delivering organization, and most of the City’s budget is committed to fixed employee salaries. Expenditures are going up at a faster rate than revenues. The gap is 1.2 percent. Over time, such a gap would deplete the City’s fund balance if not corrected.

Bottom line: The City in Fiscal Year 2021-22 is financially sound but lacks the desired flexibility.  

In the second part of the Budget Retreat, Mayor Kincannon presented an overview of City services and initiatives. 

• Six Month Financial Report [PDF] • Financial Update Presentation [PDF] • Investing in Our City, Investing in People [PDF] • 2021-2022 Budget Info  • 2022-2023 Budget Info • Budget Archive (Budgets from years 2001-current) January 26-28, 2022 - Capital Budget Hearings / Meetings with Departments February 11, 2022 - City of Knoxville Budget Retreat and Six Month Financial Report released March 22-24, 2022 - Mayor's Budget Hearings  April 22, 2022 - Mayor's State of the City Address and Proposed Annual Operating Budget released May 3, 2022 - City Council First Reading of Proposed Budget & Tax Ordinances May 12-13, 2022 - Legislative Budget Hearings & Public Hearing May 17, 2022 - City Council Second Reading of Proposed Budget & Tax Ordinances May 31, 2022 - City Council First Reading of proposed Capital Improvement Program from Knoxville-Knox Planning Commission June 14, 2022 - City Council Second Reading of proposed Capital Improvement Program from Knoxville-Knox Planning Commission June 15, 2022 - Last Possible Day to Approve Budget / Tax Ordinances July 1, 2022 - New Fiscal Year Begins