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Knox County finance leaders preview FY27 budget as schools, roads and solid-waste costs draw scrutiny
Summary
County and school finance officials told the finance committee on May 11 that district fund balances remain healthy but state funding (TISA) is increasingly hard to predict; county staff previewed a FY27 budget that shifts one tax penny from schools to the general fund, funds teacher-pay increases, and uses transfers and fund balance to cover higher solid-waste and paving costs.
Knox County officials gave commissioners a detailed fiscal picture on May 11, saying revenues are generally healthy but several structural pressures could tighten budgets in coming years.
Ron McPherson, finance director for Knox County Schools, told the finance committee the district's "financial condition continues to remain stable" and that fund-balance levels are "healthy." He warned that state funding under the TISA formula has become harder to predict and said the district is closely monitoring enrollment and fiscal-capacity measures that affect future state allocations. "The longer we're growing into that model, the more difficult it's becoming to predict what those dollars will be from year to year," McPherson said.
At the county level, Finance Director Chris Caldwell reviewed metrics his office received from the state comptroller and a draft FY27 budget that the mayor has proposed. He said the county's cash-on-hand equals roughly 134 days of expenditures, or about 37% of…
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