The June budget fight centered on millions of dollars for county employee raises. But the same action also increased commissioner and school board pay — and a 2020 Tennessee law raises a question Knox County has not yet answered.
By Brandon Burley | The Redemption Project Newsroom
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Knox County’s June budget fight centered on roughly $4 million shifted to increase county employee raises from 3% to 6%.
But buried inside that larger number was another increase: County commissioners’ own salaries also rose 6%.
Knox County Chief Financial Officer Chris Caldwell told The Redemption Project that $4.02 million was shifted to cover the higher raises. Of that, $21,140.57 covered increased commissioner compensation, including benefits. The remaining $3,998,859.43 was attributable to the broader county workforce.
So the commissioner increase was a small fraction of the money involved in the school-funding dispute. But it exposed a larger question about how Knox County sets pay for elected officials.
County Finance said annual commissioner salaries increased from $28,184.52 in fiscal 2026 to $29,875.56 in fiscal 2027, effective July 1. School board members receive the same salary.
The written amendment did not mention commissioner pay
Former Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs proposed a 3% salary adjustment for county employees. During a June 15 special session, then-Commission Chair Gina Oster offered a substitute motion increasing the adjustment to 6%.
Official minutes say the amendment applied to “general county employees” and shifted 2 cents of property tax revenue from the General Purpose School Fund to help pay for it. The motion passed 7-0-3-1.
The written amendment does not expressly say commissioners or school board members would receive the increase.
That does not establish whether commissioners knew their compensation would change. Meeting minutes do not capture every discussion, and TRP has not completed its review of the full meeting recording.
What the records establish is what happened afterward: Commissioner pay increased 6%.
The mechanism existed before this year
Archived school budgets show this was not a new arrangement.
Knox County Schools’ fiscal 2024 budget initially listed $227,700 for nine school board members. A note beneath that budget said the amount would have to increase another 5% after the countywide budget approved a 5% salary increase for county commissioners.
The school system said board salaries were aligned with Commission salaries under the Knox County Charter.
That means the deeper question is not simply why commissioners received a raise in 2026.
It is how that longstanding county system interacts with a state law enacted six years ago.
Tennessee changed the law in 2020
Tennessee lawmakers added language to state law in 2020 saying an increase in compensation for members of a county legislative body does not take effect until the beginning of the term following the next election of county commissioners. The General Assembly’s fiscal analysis described the provision as preventing an increase from taking effect until election of the subsequent legislative body.
There is older legal authority supporting Knox County’s charter system. A 2015 Tennessee attorney general opinion concluded that Knox County had authority under the law then in effect to set commissioner compensation through its charter.
But that opinion predates the 2020 change.
TRP asked the Knox County Law Department on Sept. 18 how the newer state law interacts with the county charter and its current compensation practice.
As of Sept. 19, the county had not answered that question.
TRP is not concluding that Knox County violated state law. The unanswered legal question is whether the 2020 provision applies to Knox County’s charter system — and, if not, why.
That answer could determine whether the system that produced this year’s 6% increase works the way state law now requires.
I am a retired detective and criminal justice / government educator based in Tennessee. I founded The Redemption Project, as a place to focus on civics, rebuild non-partisan trust, and provide educational and emotional grace while learning about the news. I also have a column in Knox TN Today. My reporting and commentary have also appeared in other outlets including; Governing, The Arizona Capitol Times, South Florida Sun Sentinel, Police1, among other state and regional outlets.
Behind the Reporting
This investigation began with the roughly $4 million shifted during Knox County’s budget process. County records showed almost all of that money funded the broader employee raise, not commissioner compensation.
The reporting then moved to the mechanism that increased elected-official pay and the state law governing when commissioner compensation increases can take effect.
TRP is still awaiting the Knox County Law Department’s legal explanation and additional compensation records from Knox County Schools and County Finance. The full June 15 meeting recording also remains under review. The story will be updated if those records or responses materially change what is known.
Reporting cutoff: Sept. 19, 2026.
Source Library
Knox County Finance Department — Chief Financial Officer Chris Caldwell, Sept. 14, 2026. Commissioner and school board salary figures and the $4.02 million compensation breakdown.
Knox County Clerk’s Office / Commission Library. June 15 special-session minutes, amendment language, fiscal worksheet and roll-call vote.
Knox County Law Department — Senior Deputy Law Director Michael Moyers. Sept. 14 response concerning Knox County Charter Section 2.04 and commissioner compensation.
Knox County Schools fiscal 2024 General Purpose Budget. Documents the historical Commission-to-school-board salary linkage.
Tennessee General Assembly — HB 1597 / Public Chapter 536 of 2020. Source for the intervening-election compensation provision.
Tennessee Attorney General Opinion 15-60, July 14, 2015. Historical analysis of Knox County’s authority to set legislative-body compensation under the law then in effect.
Reporting cutoff: Sept. 19, 2026.
