CollegedaleNot a ballot

How Collegedale is run

Who runs Collegedale, what it costs, and where your money goes

The city manager, council pay, the budget, your property tax bill and who provides each service, from Collegedale's own public documents. Every number links to its source and says which year it describes. Checked Oct 11, 2026.

Who runs Collegedale

A city manager hired by the council runs the city day to day. The council sets policy, adopts the budget and sets the tax rate.

City of Collegedale

What they are paid

City manager Jon Holmes: base payNot confirmed2025-12-01. City of Collegedale · Dec 15, 2025
In the contract
  • $15,000 for moving expenses
  • $500 a month car allowance until a city car is delivered
A council memberNot confirmedFY2026-27. City of Collegedale · Sep 17, 2025
The mayorNot confirmedFY2026-27. City of Collegedale · Sep 17, 2025

Collegedale city staff

Tennessee has no statewide pay database. The budget shows salaries by department, not by position. We name pay only for elected officials and the city manager.

Is Collegedale in the red?

Cities must pass a balanced budget, so "profit" and "deficit" mean something different here. The useful questions: does the city's everyday money (the general fund) cover its everyday costs, how much does it keep in savings compared with its own target, and how big are its pension and debt bills.

General fund, FY2026-27$18.7MOut of $24.3M across all city funds, which includes utilities and other money that can only be spent on one thing. City of Collegedale · Jun 1, 2026
Savings grew, FY2023-24 (audited)+$1.3MGeneral fund revenue $15M, spending $13.6M. City of Collegedale

Savings

Unassigned general fund balance: $18.5M (2024-06-30). City of Collegedale

Pension promises not yet funded$1.2MThe city's TCRS pension plan showed a $1,176,300 net pension liability on the June 30, 2024 statement of net position. (2024-06-30). City of Collegedale
Debt owed$4.7M2024-06-30. City of Collegedale

Why we skip the "budgeted deficit": many cities plan to dip into savings, then spend less than planned. The audited result tells you what really happened.

Where the money comes from and goes

The general fund only: the city's everyday money for FY2026-27.

Comes from

  • Property tax$6.8M · 37%
  • Local sales tax$3.9M · 21%
  • Planned use of fund balance$3.5M · 19%
  • State sales tax (city share)$1.4M · 7%
  • Interest earnings$480,000 · 3%
  • State gas tax$394,000 · 2%
  • Utility tax$330,000 · 2%
  • Other (business and beer taxes, permits, fines, grants, other state aid)$1.8M · 10%

City of Collegedale · Apr 23, 2026

Goes to (FY2026-27)

  • Police$4.7M · 25%
  • Other general government (insurance, benefits, contracts)$3.6M · 19%
  • Public works and streets$3.4M · 18%
  • Fire protection contract$1.3M · 7%
  • Information technology$1.2M · 6%
  • Waste collection$932,100 · 5%
  • Administration$899,100 · 5%
  • Other (building and codes, library, planning, debt payments, court, parks)$2.8M · 15%

City of Collegedale · Apr 23, 2026

Your property tax bill: who gets it

Of each property-tax dollar a Collegedale homeowner pays, about 41 cents goes to the city and the rest to Hamilton County, including its school fund.

41¢

of each property-tax dollar goes to the city of Collegedale

  • City of Collegedale1.069 · 41%
  • Hamilton County (general fund)0.8563 · 33%
  • Hamilton County schools0.654 · 25%
  • Hamilton County district road fund0.0054 · <1%
  • Total (dollars per $100 of assessed value)2.5847

2026 tax year (FY2026-27) rates for a home in the city of Collegedale (Hamilton County). Hamilton County Trustee

See what a Collegedale home costs each year, line by line →

Who provides your services

Not everything in Collegedale is run by the city. Who provides a service decides whose budget pays for it and whose election decides it.

Compared with similar cities

The cities in this state closest in population that we cover. Read it for scale, not as a ranking: cities provide different services.

Union CityTNFairviewTNCollegedaleTNLawrenceburgTN
Residents10,81410,87711,49912,236
Top administrator's base payNot confirmed$157,200Not confirmedNot confirmed
Council member payNot confirmedNot confirmedNot confirmedNot confirmed
General fund per resident$1,791$1,334$1,625$1,363
Debt per resident$1,235$958$413$2,882
Unfunded pension per resident$83$186$102$572
City staff per 1,000 residents————

Figures as shown in each city's section, divided by its population. Years differ by state, and pension figures are measured differently in each state (each city page says how). Collegedale pays another agency for police or fire, so its own staff count is lower.

What Collegedale publishes

What a resident can find online today. A "no" is something you can ask the council to publish.

Questions to ask your council

  1. The FY2026-27 budget plans $18,690,400 in general fund spending against $15,163,700 in revenue. Which parts of the $3,526,700 gap are one-time capital purchases?
  2. The city has no written reserve policy that we found. Should it adopt one?
  3. The FY2025 audit was approved December 1, 2025. When will it be posted on the city's budget page?

Fiscal year starts July 1. The commission holds first reading and a public hearing on the budget ordinance in May (May 18, 2026) and adopts it on second reading in June (June 1, 2026 for FY2026-27). The tax rate ordinance follows in June. See who is running for council

Help decide what comes next

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Every number here was checked by hand against the linked document. Cities publish on different schedules, so years differ between sections; each figure says which year it describes. Spotted something wrong or out of date?

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