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Helping Cities For Half A Century: A History Of The Municipal Technical Advisory Service, 1949-1999, Rob Parkinson

MTAS History

This history of the Municipal Technical Advisory Service looks to examine several aspects of the organization’s first 50 years; more specifically in several areas: the historical context out of which MTAS operated, the bureaucratic or structural changes that have come over 50 years, the people who shaped and breathed life into the organization, and the specific issues and problems MTAS consultants were called on to help Tennessee cities with. These topics fit together to give the reader a larger view of what the Municipal Technical Advisory Service has accomplished since 1949 and what the future holds for the next 50 …

Technical Report: Street & Road Maintenance, Donald F. Norris, Vanessa F. Hester

MTAS History

This Report addresses an increasingly complex and costly problem facing local governments: namely, street and road maintenance. It was written to provide information and guidance to local public officials and professionals in the field on new and perhaps better materials, methods and equipment for street and road maintenance. Provided here is an overview of several alternative and innovative methods of street and road maintenance in three areas: pothole repair; pavement cracking and repair; and asphalt recycling. In addition, an annotated bibliography covering general aspects of street and road maintenance, pothole repair, pavement cracking and repair, and asphalt recycling is included.

A Brief Description Of Tennessee Municipal Government, Victor C. Hobday

MTAS History

This paper was prepared for the 1963 Edition of Your Tennessee Government, the textbook used in the American Legion IS annual Boys State program.

Municipal Water Works Operating Data For Tennessee, W. T. Chaffin, M. U. Snoderly

MTAS History

This is a tabulation and interpretation of the results of a survey made by MTAS in the fall of 1959 designed to obtain statistical information on the operation of municipally-owned water utilities in the State.

How To Make Reports, Pan Dodd Wheeler

MTAS History

This publication explains what municipal reports are, why municipal officials should make them, and what to include in them.

Delinquent Taxes, Cliff Greenwood

MTAS History

This article is concerned with the collection of delinquent real property taxes. Included is a time table for the collection of taxes.

A Brief Description Of Tennessee Municipal Government, Victor C. Hobday

MTAS History

When people refer to the place where they live they usually speak of it as.a "city" or "town." Generally, we regard a small community as a "town" and the larger community as a "city." In some other states people are accustomed to calling the smaller places "villages" and "boroughs," but this is not the custom in Tennessee. The purpose of this paper is to describe briefly the government of cities and towns in Tennessee. Each one has a government, just as the State has a government. An effort will be made to outline the principal differences among city and town …

Financing Electric-Municipal Buildings In Tennessee, Victor C. Hobday

MTAS History

The purpose of this publication is to advise municipal officials with respect to the sharing of a joint building by the general municipal government and an electric distribution system. It is an expansion of an article on the same subject that appeared in the Technical Section of the November 1952 issue of Tennessee Town & City magazine.

The information contained herein is oriented particularly toward officials responsible for the general government of Tennessee's municipalities, but it may also be of some value to officials of electric distribution systems.

Accounting Procedures For State Street Aid Funds, William T. Chaffin

MTAS History

Public Chapter No. 1 of the 1953 General Assembly, effective July 1, 1953, grants to municipalities the proceeds of one cent of the state gasoline tax. The enabling act, however, restricts expenditures to street aid purposes and puts forth various requirements that municipalities must meet related to financial and accounting procedures.

Paving Streets Under The Abutting Property Act, Cliff Greenwood

MTAS History

To assist municipalities in constructing streets under the abutting property act, MTAS prepared the materials in this bulletin. In addition to a copy of the act itself, from Williams Tennessee Code, Annotated (Michie Publishing Company, Charlottesville, Virginia), there is included a sample ordinance and two sample notices. These are intended to be general guides, and each municipality should consult its attorney regarding the peculiar form of such documents adapted to its charter and needs.

Annexation Handbook For Tennessee Municipal Officials [Archived Material], Wallace Mendelson

MTAS History

This is a handbook for municipal officials in Tennessee who are considering annexation as a solution for fringe area problems. The unincorporated urban fringe that surrounds most cities creates a host of problems, both from the the viewpoint of the city and the suburban dwellers. The purpose of this handbook is to present and to discuss briefly the factors that enter into a decision as to whether annexation should be undertaken.

Municipal Tort Liability In Tennessee, Cliff Greenwood

MTAS History

In preparing this bulletin an examination has been made of all the published opinions of Tennessee. No attempt has been made to cite all opinions because there is considerable duplication, especially in the decisions dealing with street and sidewalk accidents. An attempt, however, has been made to cover all tort liability problems that have been presented to the appellate courts of Tennessee,

Paths To Constitutional Home Rule For Municipalities, Wallace Mendelson

MTAS History

Part I deals with the relatively simple matter of authorizing municipalities to adopt and amend their own charters. Part II deals with the far more difficult problem of the allocation of functions as between the state and municipality. The first concerns forms of government; the second the powers of government. Part III deals with the related problem of the extension of city boundaries by the annexation of fringe areas.

Equalizing Assessments Of City Properties: What, Why And How, Cecil Morgan

MTAS History

This publication can serve as a guide to city officials in carrying out an assessments equalization program. In addition to discussing the records required, the procedures to follow and some of the problems involved in such a program, this bulletin reviews the tax equalization experience of six Tennessee taxing jurisdictions. The final section draws attention to the importance of having a good public relations program accompanying a tax equalization program.

The Local Beer Tax: An Administrative Guide, Victor C. Hobday

MTAS History

Under the terms of legislation passed by the 1951 General Assembly, cities and counties in Tennessee have been authorized to levy a tax on the retail sale of beer, effective April 1, 1951. This bulletin has been prepared as a guide for city officials in the preparation of necessary local legislation and in the establishment of essential administrative procedures.

The sample ordinances, suggested rules and regulations, and forms in this bulletin were prepared by Anders O. Hustvedt and Porter C. Greenwood, MTAS Consultants. Other MTAS staff members have contributed to the various steps required to bring this bulletin to its …

Rabies Control, Victor C. Hobday

MTAS History

This bulletin deals with a subject that frequently deserves more attention from municipal officials than it receives. Most cities probably have inadequate control measures to guard against the danger of rabies, and quite often the problem is overlooked entirely. Perhaps such a situation is the result primarily of lack of information - and it is this need that this bulletin attempts to meet by outlining effective measures and the reasons for taking action. (Forward by Gerald W. Shaw, MTAS Executive Director)

Municipal Technical Advisory Service (A New Agency Created To Serve Tennessee's Cities), Gerald W. Shaw

MTAS History

In this article, Gerald W. Shaw, the first Executive Director of the Municipal Technical Advisory Service (MTAS), discusses MTAS's work and goals, including technical and legal assistance to cities, research projects, and publications. From the November 1949 issue of The Tennessee Engineer.