[{"_1":2,"_100":-5,"_101":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,76,88],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},"mediaId",6696649,"mediaKeyId","5691664-cc16bae8c76b38efce1603794ac4084b","parentId",5691664,"title","TACIR subcommittee: virtual school counts distort county fiscal capacity; staff recommends reporting student residence","audioSeconds",1943,"startMs",1862000,"endMs",3805000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=5691664-cc16bae8c76b38efce1603794ac4084b&start=1862&end=3805","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5691664-cc16bae8c76b38efce1603794ac4084b/thumbnail_1862000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6696649/Tennessee/TACIR-subcommittee-virtual-school-counts-distort-county-fiscal-capacity-staff-recommends-reporting-student-residence","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6696649-9d883cf18f7e7ff9e168204e101b1eea/orig.mp4?Expires=1770455033&Signature=YTCEpEx3taGtwzK6ywdSqQIdurRbnBbQVnbd-e5Mgg9oqfKpFyp7cJjsdaNx8Y2zvDCcEVbu6VnszY5pdAoSTPfvqIC6cFZtWW2-fnOghDLX3nBqC-gRZS1dgGmDatqWLrdwNs2JpZ5vQvD93CNIfK8npd~CSlJgL99nU9rVIILRdssKiESJSI-aMhjZXbcF20USKGiyVOPfzoGMrYT2MfHXZv3IaaXf7tfQDSEKufweiM3fuxrmFGv9geZczIJvEYOVvIAl6-Q75mTnCxcRjX1kAIMgy~ACjbO5zLSoPXsS3SF1XnF8gq6C4MXOiASJtKWZNAghfxrG0P3LfTRQqw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","TACIR","date","2025-08-28T00:00:00Z","article","Members of the Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations (TACIR) Education Finance Subcommittee heard staff findings that the way virtual-school students are recorded for average daily membership (ADM) can produce distortions in the state fiscal-capacity calculation and recommended the state collect each virtual student's county of residence.

TACIR Director Lippert summarized staff work and said the commission's fiscal-capacity model uses multiple linear regression to calculate per-pupil fiscal capacity and that virtual students affect several variables in the model. \"These students can increase the host county service responsibility,\" Lippert said, which \"can cause the fiscal capacity for the host county to go down,\" while in other cases including virtual students in the model \"can increase the fiscal capacity of a county that hosts a virtual school,\" with offsetting effects on other counties.

Research Associate Ismael Tanui presented the staff analysis. He said virtual students are counted as enrolled where the virtual school is located rather than where the student resides and that the Department of Education does not publish residency data for virtual pupils. Tanui reported enrollment growth in virtual schools from 3,872 ADM in 2019–20 to 14,495 ADM in 2024–25 and showed county examples: Union County has 2,685 virtual ADM out of a reported total ADM of 5,730, and Johnson County has 2,893 virtual ADM out of a reported total ADM of 4,501 (as presented to the subcommittee). Tanui also showed changes in state-share percentages for those counties across recent years.

Committee members pressed staff on which counties are advantaged or disadvantaged in any given year. Director Lippert and members explained the net effect varies year to year because the regression model's coefficients (the relative weights on tax-base, income and service-responsibility measures) change with underlying data. \"It depends,\" Lippert said. \"It varies from year to year.\"

Several members argued the missing residency data is low-hanging fruit. Lippert and Tanui said local systems and virtual schools already collect residency information, but the Department of Education does not publish county-of-residence breakdowns for virtual pupils; staff recommended the commission ask the state to collect and report that information so TACIR can run more precise analyses. The subcommittee voted by voice to forward that recommendation and the memorandum to the full TACIR; the chair recorded the voice vote as unanimous.

The staff cautioned that this analysis focused solely on funding ramifications of enrollment reporting, not on program quality or educational outcomes. Lippert described one modeling option the staff could test if residency data were available: assign a virtual student's ADM to the resident county for some tax-base factors while retaining the host county ADM for service-responsibility measures and local-revenue calculations, rather than removing virtual students entirely from the model.

The subcommittee asked staff to include the memorandum and the residency-reporting recommendation in the packet for the full commission meeting on Sept. 18.

Ending: TACIR staff will present the subcommittee's summary and recommendation to the full commission; staff said additional modeling or comparative research could follow if the state begins reporting county-of-residence for virtual pupils.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","TACIR Education Finance Subcommittee Aug 28, 2025","oneSentenceSummary","Members of the Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations Education Finance Subcommittee heard that virtual-school ADM reporting can distort county fiscal-capacity calculations and unanimously recommended the commission ask the state to report each virtual pupil's county of residence.","taxTitle","TACIR, Deparments in Office of the Governor, Organizations, Executive, Tennessee","taxId",17415,"location","Tennessee","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":77,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":78,"_41":79,"_43":80,"_45":81,"_47":82,"_49":83,"_51":84,"_53":85,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":86,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":87,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6696640,"TACIR: large tourism sales growth can raise county fiscal capacity and reduce state education aid share",366,2454000,2820000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=5691664-cc16bae8c76b38efce1603794ac4084b&start=2454&end=2820","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5691664-cc16bae8c76b38efce1603794ac4084b/thumbnail_2454000.jpg","/articles/6696640/Tennessee/TACIR-large-tourism-sales-growth-can-raise-county-fiscal-capacity-and-reduce-state-education-aid-share","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6696640-fd4aaf075a987b525000b187c08794bc/orig.mp4?Expires=1770455033&Signature=AwXKM1zIA9WwjrzHd4h2uBLNAR0rBbJjJRWmQyNq1qSYwzBcLI4bYVZV5vO7Z284EdhRuEt-kXywN~5yI7IqYureo-zbvJRbW0ZmBzG9u3CLoOaELnKrz0K4dGR2yAjPgFWp9WMHnRqP6qGkJFccAAlUFr~k7e2zF4cJ7CwwCsM9-C7LzpS4OpHGU8mPE9xBW8U0Iu6LyfJ2GWSenhBUgwm5W0EQfUUGPq6xRD4JqBCUehsmwtgceNzI2yqlrv-C91qGSwp0huLQf2bl0hRRfX2SkPP7abBj6y4JucKF-T6IdFWZ-4x6c6eJLm8UMI8RQA2Y5X8aIt4IYNxeOg6TJg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","TACIR Research Director Michael Mount presented analysis showing growth in tourism-related sales tax revenue can increase a county's fiscal capacity in the commission's model and thus lower the state's share of K–12 funding for that county under the Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement Act (TISA).

Mount said tourism-generated tax revenues are an important part of the tax base in counties such as Davidson and Sevier. He cited state figures from February 2024 showing visitor spending generated significant state and local tax revenue and noted that \"growing sales tax bases in these counties contribute to their fiscal capacities, though other variables contribute as well.\"

Mount showed that both Davidson and Sevier counties increased their share of statewide fiscal capacity over the past five years in the staff analysis and that, \"all else being equal, increases in fiscal capacity for a county decreased its state share of education funding.\" He explained that TISA equalizes only base and weighted funding; direct and outcomes funding remain 100% state-funded and are not equalized.

Committee members emphasized that tourism economies also impose infrastructure and service costs not fully captured by a fiscal-capacity measure tied to tax bases. One member noted that daily population in a tourism-heavy county can exceed resident population and that infrastructure, security and other costs associated with visitors may not be reflected in tax-base measures alone. Director Lippert noted the model includes per-capita income measures partly to capture the resident ability to pay and that the commission's model sometimes produces different results than the University of Tennessee CBRE model for these counties.

Ending: Staff recommended the memorandum and findings be forwarded to the full commission; the subcommittee recorded no statutory or budget action at the meeting.","TACIR staff told the Education Finance Subcommittee that counties with large tourism-driven sales tax bases (notably Davidson and Sevier counties) have seen increases in measured fiscal capacity, which, all else equal, reduces their state share of education funding under TISA.",{"_33":89,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":90,"_41":91,"_43":92,"_45":93,"_47":94,"_49":95,"_51":96,"_53":97,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":98,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":99,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6696644,"TACIR staff: Greenbelt valuation can either raise or lower county fiscal capacity depending on local context",393,1807000,2200000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=5691664-cc16bae8c76b38efce1603794ac4084b&start=1807&end=2200","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5691664-cc16bae8c76b38efce1603794ac4084b/thumbnail_1807000.jpg","/articles/6696644/Tennessee/TACIR-staff-Greenbelt-valuation-can-either-raise-or-lower-county-fiscal-capacity-depending-on-local-context","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6696644-ab9a6a7e479de49db233c9ccf1358adf/orig.mp4?Expires=1770455033&Signature=izd1Wn234ttXC6u79HfjrsAyknkdMgJ71uE--zu098IZlZojgSQSLE57K29YiihWNDzdRQtz7jG-O3s2XL15cX7ahUBYQnUq6W3U5QHCR8iKx1P4~Z4mXqIL64Mo9WDC0yPxyoU411ILe1VLM7BY3L1BOSnTSjUqN-41mHTSmN7IDXUzC3aQt-pT4RL226RBO3khlpXQr~xLdQb~UjDKZ7DINQSDJ1keZkRxU3lHnJEamt9gn-f7AimDv-di5-u1WsvXUjyPowsI7YG7USS9SHAFWKx8YIpZX3XZVRfNEgd-3t2RSSiMcnaqSqXFA6wsT3e20HWnTNE-9xZ7Wcyrhw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","TACIR Research Director Michael Mount briefed the Education Finance Subcommittee on how Greenbelt (use-value) property valuations interact with the commission's fiscal-capacity model and said the overall effect on a county's calculated fiscal capacity is not uniform.

Mount explained Tennessee law permits property owners to apply for Greenbelt classification so qualifying agricultural, forest or open-space land is assessed on use value rather than market value. \"Once a property qualifies for greenbelt status, it is assessed based on its current use,\" Mount said, and the resulting lower assessment \"supports land conservation and agricultural sustainability, but also results in lower property tax base.\"

Mount reviewed statutory qualification thresholds the staff cited: agricultural land generally requires a minimum 15-acre tract (with a 10-acre additional-tract rule), forest land requires a 15-acre minimum under a forest-management plan, and open-space land requires a minimum three-acre tract within a preservation plan. He also summarized findings from TACIR's 2009 Greenbelt report, which identified several options (none adopted) to limit or recapture Greenbelt subsidies, such as minimum valuation floors, rollback-interest adjustments, and inspector authority for eligibility verification.

Mount said the Greenbelt effect in the fiscal-capacity model is twofold: lowering residential or farm assessment reduces the property-tax base and reduces the residential-and-farm share of total assessments, and those two effects can partially offset each other. \"Designating a farm or residential property as Greenbelt in the county can increase or decrease the county's fiscal capacity in TACIR's model,\" Mount said.

Committee members raised policy trade-offs. One member urged caution about tightening eligibility and suggested placing use conditions or public-benefit requirements (educational visits, conservation easements) rather than automatic rollback recapture. Mount and Lippert noted the staff's primary role in this subcommittee was to show how Greenbelt rules interact with the fiscal-capacity model; staff did not propose specific statutory changes at this meeting. Mount confirmed the 2009 report options had not been adopted.

Ending: TACIR staff said Greenbelt remains a recurring topic and that the commission could be asked to revisit the 2009 recommendations if the full commission requests further study.","TACIR research director Michael Mount told the Education Finance Subcommittee that Tennessee's Greenbelt assessment rules reduce property tax valuations for qualifying land and that the net effect on a county's fiscal capacity varies, sometimes significantly reducing the tax base in growth areas.","actionData","errors"]

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TACIR subcommittee: virtual school counts distort county fiscal capacity; staff recommends reporting student residence

TACIR: large tourism sales growth can raise county fiscal capacity and reduce state education aid share

TACIR staff: Greenbelt valuation can either raise or lower county fiscal capacity depending on local context