Resources: How to pay for growth
Infrastructure is top of mind in many of the counties in the East Tennessee REALTORS® footprint, as elected leaders and municipal staff work to balance regular maintenance, upkeep of aging systems and the needs of a rapidly growing population.
ETNR is compiling resources and articles below as we work to develop a course curriculum on the topic.
Fall 2025: Financing The Future
This issue of On Common Ground spotlights local government financing—where municipal funds come from, how they are spent, and the pressures communities face in balancing budgets. Inside, we explore emerging tools and strategies that local leaders are using, along with best practices, case studies, and expert recommendations designed to help strengthen fiscal health and support smarter growth.
National Association of REALTORS® On Common Ground, November 2025
Making Homes Make Cents: How Affordable Housing is Financed
Housing is a necessity, and has grown increasingly expensive in Tennessee over the last decade. Much of this was driven by increased demand and diminished supply. Financing for housing developments can be challenging, and the process is particularly complex for affordable housing. This report examines how these developments are financed, and the unique challenges affordable housing developments navigate.
Josiah Hoss, Sycamore Institute, October 2025
Reviving Public Private Partnerships
Public-Private Partnerships, otherwise known as P3s, are not necessarily new to the world of parking and mobility. In fact, previous unsuccessful P3 partnerships created quite a controversial perception of this business model for years. However, P3s have begun seeing a resurgence within the parking and mobility space over the last ten years. Successful partnerships have proved that this model can work if applied appropriately. The details of how these partnerships are structured, the benefits and risks associated with P3s, where and how P3s can be effective, and the impact on communities are still relatively foreign to many parking and mobility professionals. So, what exactly do we need to know?
Lauren Nelson PTMP, International Parking & Mobility Institute, June 2025
Residential Infrastructure Districts: TN Legislative Update
The Residential Infrastructure Development Act of 2024 allows municipal governments to create infrastructure development districts to fund residential development. Residential infrastructure districts must be at least five acres, have a capital cost of at least $5 million, and be at least half dedicated to residential housing.
University of Tennessee County Technical Assistance Service (CTAS), 2024
We examine eleven state and local programs addressing middle-income housing needs, finding that these programs have become increasingly prevalent in recent years, that they exist in geographically and politically diverse states, and that most focus on expanding the supply of middle-income housing.
Harvard University Joint Center for Housing Studies, July 2024
Roadmap to Tax Increment Financing
Tax Increment Financing – or TIF – is a method utilized by local governments to pay for community improvements with future tax revenues. a TIF plan is approved by a local government to redevelop an area by paying for the cost of public or private improvements out of future growth in taxes attributed to the new development. the redevelopment typically consists of clearing blight, promoting housing, or other economic development. public chapter 605 addresses TIF plans utilizing future property tax revenue. Historically, TIF in tennessee has been used for housing and redevelopment. TIF use for economic development is growing.
TN Comptroller of the Treasury, September 2012
Land Value Capture in the United States
The Lincoln Institute is one of the foremost research authorities on the topic of land value capture and the concept that public benefit should be funded through equitable taxation. Strategies include special assessment districts, incentive zoning and transferable development rights.
The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, September 2022
The objective of this paper is to identify the key features a proposed new tax should exhibit in order to be successful. To do so, we examine the experiences of local governments from Florida, Oklahoma, Missouri, and other states. Before reviewing these and other examples and distilling the features of a successful tax, it is important to understand a critical tension at the heart of public management that impacts any local government’s strategy for raising revenue.
Shayne Kavanaugh, Government Finance Officers Association, January 2019