WBV

🏠 Property Reappraisals & Tax Assessments

Presenter: Hamilton County Assessor Marty Haynes (with Donnie Bell)

2025 Reappraisal cycle: Tennessee requires reassessments every 4–6 years. Hamilton County has chosen a 4-year cycle since 1989.
Key data:
- District 5 saw 56% increase in values (2021–25), highest in the county.
- 185K parcels appraised, ~140K residential.
- Mass appraisal method: neighborhood-based, excludes top/bottom outliers.
Appeals: ~15K informal reviews → 8K formal hearings → 300 before Board of Equalization. ~950 large commercial appeals filed to state ALJs.
Equity concerns: lower-value homes rose fastest, hitting fixed-income/Black-majority areas hardest.
Certified tax rate: holds city/county revenue neutral; new construction adds growth.
State “equalization credit”: after year 2 of 4-year cycle, businesses get ~30% tax break, costing city ~$6M annually.
- Solution: switch to 2-year cycle (as Knoxville, Nashville, Memphis do).
Council reactions:
- Broad support for smaller, frequent adjustments vs. large shocks.
- Concerns about fairness for working families, especially seniors on fixed incomes.

477 sworn officer positions; ~401 active (71 vacancies).
Reorganization added lieutenants (wellness, downtown, Adam South, watch commander).
Chief refused her own raise; wants funds prioritized for frontline.
Professional staff (121): victim advocates, crisis co-responders, CSI, HR.

$6.4M to County 911 dispatch (mandatory).
$2.2M McKamey Animal Center.
$1.4M body/in-car camera contract (final year, costs will rise).
$4.7M vehicles (fuel, leases, repairs) – cut in half in 2021, now overspent by ~$1M annually. Exploring EV pilot for command staff.
$599K uniforms/ammo (ammo costs outpacing budget).
$813K “other” expenses – mostly $760K risk management insurance.
$18K training/travel (minimum required).
Utilities ~$900K; aging HVAC flagged.

Attrition: 42 officers lost in 2024; only 6 so far in 2025.
Recruitment: Sept. 2025 academy expected to bring in 45–49 cadets (largest in decades).
Workload: CPD handles 231K calls/year, far more than surrounding agencies.
Officers average 26 hours/day of overtime department-wide (~$2.2M in 2024).
69 officers assaulted in duty in 2024; strong use of mental health supports.

Starting officer pay: $48,198.
Local average: $58,221 → CPD is $10K (21%) below market.
Even Hamilton County park rangers ($52K) and THP troopers earn more.
Proposal:
- Target $58K starting salary to match regional market.
- Prioritize raises at entry ranks (cadet, officer, master officer, sergeant).
- Prevent compression (supervisors must still earn more).
- CPD cost: $9M; Fire cost: $14M → ~$23M combined need.
- ~$5M already budgeted; net new = $17–18M.
Long-term need: structured system (like Knoxville’s annual 4% COLA + dedicated millage) to prevent repeated pay crises.

Councilmember Bird: Asked if reducing overtime could offset raises; Chief said some OT is unavoidable (homicides, events). Emphasized wellness costs of excess OT.
Chair Hill: Pressed on risk management costs; Chief noted at-fault crashes are down, but insurance offsets not credited back to CPD.
- Asked about violence reduction: Chief credited 423 Chain Breakers (US DOJ-funded) and Community Haven for disrupting retaliatory shootings, mediating conflicts, and youth outreach.
Hill & CFO Muhanna: Requested line-item costs for Chain Breakers and Community Haven; Muhanna clarified ARPA-funded pilot now replaced by DOJ grant.
Hill: Stressed need for a long-term funding structure, not just one-time raises.
Harvey: Asked “ideal” cadet/officer starting salary; Chief reiterated $58K as competitive baseline.
Henderson: Asked inflation-adjusted comparison to Y2K officer pay; also sought clarity on $9M CPD + $14M Fire = $23M ask.
Elliott: Asked if police/fire pay bands will align; Muhanna said ~$3K gap would remain at proposed levels.
Closing: Council requested detailed pay models showing outcomes at $12M, $17M, and $23M funding levels.

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