East Tennessee REALTORS® (ETR) is using an NAR grant to plan a proactive course in good government and sustainable financial solutions to keep up with rapid regional growth
Count the greater Knoxville area among the regions that have experienced explosive post-pandemic growth. To help steer elected officials toward good decisions that foster smart growth and sound financing to serve it, ETR is working to create a course that will educate municipal officials.
“Following the pandemic, we’ve seen explosive growth. Local governments were not prepared for that, as anyone would not be, due to an unprecedented event — Covid and the way it changed where people wanted to live,” said Maria McHale, ETR’s governmental affairs and policy director.
“ETR covers 12 counties — some urban, some rural, some in between,” she said. “We are approaching municipalities with ideas for smart growth.”
Founded in 1912, ETR serves Anderson, Blount, Campbell, Cumberland, Fentress, Knox, Loudon, Monroe, Morgan, Roane, Scott and Union Counties. The Knoxville Metropolitan Statistical Area is home to about one million people.
ETR frequently advocates for smart growth decisions at the city and county level — where land-use decisions make a strong impact on the quality of life and future livability of communities where real people reside.
As an advocate for the residents of a 12-county region, ETR aims to educate decision-makers.
“They might enact a policy that seems like a short-term solution like impact fees. That is a long-term solution. It is regressive, because it impacts homebuyers, especially those who can least afford to pay for that passed on cost,” said McHale, noting that virtually every governmental body in the country is trying to create housing that people can afford, so it is counter to that effort to add high-impact fees to the cost of producing dwelling units.
McHale said the goal is also to create a proactive toolkit to help municipalities solve immediate financial and land-use decisions, while also helping them grow in a way that is sustainable. The course she is developing is aimed at best practices.
“There are tools such as a development agreement. A developer might be willing to pay for infrastructure immediately, in exchange for some benefits. There are special assessment districts — they are called different things in different areas. But the basic idea is when new taxes collected within a development area go toward funding [infrastructure] improvements, that benefits homes and facilities there,” McHale said.
“There are some really fantastic [approaches] that help pay for things,” she said, focusing on solutions that do not artificially raise home prices, hurting potential homebuyers, the way impact fees do. “Rather than focusing on one policy that we are trying to propose or defeat, we are looking at this holistically.”
McHale said like many regions in the United States, the East Tennessee area was not building enough homes for years. Then the post-pandemic boom created more stresses.
“It is not my job to help a county set its budget,” she said. “It is my job to help REALTORS® be more proactive in creating housing and infrastructure to support it.”
McHale said housing is no longer solely a private-market issue. “Making sure housing is accessible is a shared opportunity between local government, economic development and planning agencies, and industry groups — everyone should care about housing and do everything we can to support it from a policy standpoint. Housing affects jobs, the workforce and the shared economic health and success of the entire region.”
The proactive toolkit will include advice for smaller municipalities. McHale is quick to point out that some small jurisdictions are not populated enough to have large planning and economic development staffs. This program could be as simple as presenting ideas to a city planner, mayor or commission member. She said ETR understands that most elected officials serve as volunteers, so they can benefit from a toolkit of sound options.
“We are looking to fund amenities and infrastructure in ways that do not take money out of taxpayers’ pockets,” she said of paying for parks, schools, traffic improvements and other needs. “We can help them explore payment in lieu of taxes. If a developer needs a stoplight for the development, the developer can fund that up front in a payment in lieu of taxes agreement. Our legal and land-use experts can provide assistance in creating the proper framework.”
“Local governments have an incredible amount of flexibility in how they can support infrastructure. We are sampling defining those paths,” she said. “We are saying that if you do it right, if you put together the right [deals], growth can pay for itself.”
To create a curriculum, ETR is using some of its $7,500 NAR grant to hire local land-use lawyers and a planning consultant. They want to ensure that it complies with continuing education standards, so REALTORS® can benefit from the course.
As she builds a course for a growing region, McHale emphasizes that the key is offering technical assistance. She advises other REALTOR® boards and associations to take a non-intrusive approach to informing elected and appointed officials on best practices. The goal is to finalize ETR’s course this fall and roll it out in early 2026.
