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State lawmaker outlines grant pools, school and public-safety funding and a proposal to return real-estate transfer revenue to counties
Summary
State Rep. Clay Daugherty briefed the Giles County Commission on multiple 2025 legislative outcomes and proposals, including public-safety grants, new school infrastructure funding, a $2 million courthouse renovation pool, and a proposed real-estate transfer tax sharing plan that would send 50% to counties with restrictions on use.
State Rep. Clay Daugherty told the Giles County Commission on Tuesday that the 2025 General Assembly approved new public-safety and education funding and that several statewide proposals could deliver additional revenue to counties.
Daugherty, who represents Giles County in the Tennessee General Assembly, said the legislature allocated $175 million in public-safety grants this year, including $30 million in violent-crime intervention grants and additional funding to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) to speed forensic processing. "Right now... it can take months, even years to get the information back," Daugherty said of forensic kits; he said the TBI expansion would create roughly 22 positions to address the backlog.
He said the legislature also funded a University of Tennessee Law Enforcement Innovations unit to provide low-cost regional training and described several education allocations: $500 million in new recurring education dollars, $148 million for TISA growth (the state's funding formula), $27 million for summer learning, $77 million for K–12 infrastructure and $20 million for a school-safety grant. Daugherty said the K–12 infrastructure pool is intended for repairs and upgrades (air conditioning, windows, other building work) rather than new school construction.
Daugherty described a new "thriving communities" nonrecurring grant pool of $42.5 million that includes targeted subpools: $20 million for volunteer fire departments, $5 million for rescue squads, $5 million for EMS, $5 million for local museum improvements and a $2 million courthouse renovation grant. He said five counties had requested courthouse funds and that Economic and Community Development (ECD) would administer the courthouse grant; ECD is expected to open that grant after closing a current beautification grant in late August or early September.
On revenue proposals, Daugherty outlined a plan under consideration that would return 50% of the state27s real-estate transfer tax to counties. Using a four-year average, he said Giles County27s share would be about $363,000 annually on average; he emphasized a statutory caveat in the proposal requiring half of the returned funds to be used on road work (paving, resurfacing or bridge work), with the other half restricted to infrastructure projects and not allowed for salaries or benefits.
Daugherty also discussed state sales-tax allocations and a "single article cap" in state law that affects where portions of tax collections are remitted. He said Giles County collected about $2.9 million in county sales tax in fiscal 2025 and noted past efforts to reduce administrative fees that accompany state collections. He said he has explored options to return more recurring revenue to rural counties but described the complexity of statewide tax distribution.
He warned of looming water supply constraints in nearby Murray County and discussed federal and state projects under consideration, including a long-range proposal to rebuild a dam to create a larger reservoir that could extend into Marshall County. On state road maintenance, Daugherty said Tennessee Department of Transportation mowing schedules have changed and that spraying for invasive/poisonous plants will alter mowing timing.
Daugherty invited county officials to a proposed policy summit with state finance and revenue officials to discuss revenue, county needs and statute-driven allocations. He said counties should consider sending local officials to Nashville to testify when legislation affecting county revenue is considered.
Why it matters: several of the grants and the transfer-tax proposal could materially affect county capital budgets and road and courthouse work in Giles County. Much of the funding Daugherty described is contingent on state grant cycles and the final shape of bills in both chambers of the legislature.
Daugherty ended by encouraging local officials to apply for available grants and to collaborate with state staff when grant windows open; he said the courthouse grant should be available in September and that ECD would notify county officials when the application period opens.
