Nashville, TN [July 18, 2024] – The Tennessee County Services Association (TCSA) this week attended the National Association of Counties (NACo) Annual Conference and Exposition in Hillsborough County, Fla. The nation’s largest meeting of county leaders drew nearly 3,000 attendees to discuss a wide range of policy issues, exchange best practices, and hear from inspirational speakers and thought leaders.

“We were happy to see that more than 30 Tennessee county officials attended the NACo Conference this year,” said TCSA Executive Director David Connor. “It was a conference full of great information for our officials, and we’re glad to see Tennessee represented on a national level...”

On May 21, 2024, Governor Bill Lee signed into law an amendment to T.C.A. § 5-5-113 that provides for a new incentive for county commissioners, should their county choose to adopt by resolution.

To qualify for the new incentive, the following must happen:

1. Your county must adopt a resolution establishing the incentive.
2. Commissioners who have never participated in any CTAS training must register for a k@te account.

This new incentive for county commissioners has specific requirements to meet in order to qualify for it. The qualifications depend on when you were elected.

If you are the Mayor, Executive, or County Commissioner of a county in Tennessee, then you have a Trustee or Finance Director who is already performing some cash management tasks on a daily basis.  It can be as basic and straightforward as that finance official or a staff member transferring funds from one account to another in order to pay operating expenses, or it can be as complex as having them be responsible for future cash-level forecasting, investment tracking, and maximizing interest earnings.
 
You may be surprised to learn that many county governments have an unnecessarily large percentage of their cash sitting idle in checking accounts and earning lower-than-average or even zero interest for taxpayers.  Shifting just one or two million dollars from one of these low-interest accounts into a 1-year CD can generate as much as $100,000 or more for your county over the next year, locked-in and guaranteed. Even moving some funds into a short-term, high-interest account where the cash remains available at a moment’s notice can significantly improve earnings revenues...

NASHVILLE – Tennessee continues to experience record-low unemployment, according to data released by the Department of Labor and Workforce Development (TDLWD). The rate for June 2024 came in at 3%, which was unchanged from the all-time low unemployment rate the state recorded in May.

In a year-to-year comparison, Tennessee’s June 2024 seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased by 0.1 of a percentage point.

Employers added new jobs to Tennessee’s workforce between May and June and increased nonfarm employment by 400 jobs. The mining, logging, and construction sector and the education and health services sector had the biggest gains in employment. The manufacturing sector also added a sizable number of new positions during the month.