Introduction: The Promise of Equity—But for Whom?

Knoxville's proposed half-cent sales tax increase has been promoted as a triumph for "equity," promising to generate roughly $10 million annually for the next five years to fund affordable housing, infrastructure, and neighborhood revitalization. The resolution and first reading at City Council passed 8-1 on October 14, 2025. Citizens will vote on the measure during early voting and on November 4, 2025.

On the surface, this appears to be a step toward fairness. Yet a deeper look into the City's own Five-Year Neighborhood Investment Plan reveals troubling disparities.

While every district is slated to benefit, the pattern of spending continues to mirror historical inequities. The data show that areas with the greatest concentration of Black residents—particularly those in District 6, which includes the Magnolia Avenue and Martin Luther King Jr. corridors—receive far less transformative investment compared with predominantly white or higher-income districts.

The illusion of equity persists when sidewalk repairs in East Knoxville are labeled as "revitalization," while multi-million-dollar recreational and infrastructure upgrades elsewhere generate measurable property value growth and private-sector returns.

Understanding "Affordable" Under the HUD Lens

According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the FY 2024 Median Family Income (MFI) for Knox County is $91,000. This figure determines the Area Median Income (AMI) thresholds that developers and housing programs use to define "affordable":

Source: HUD, FY 2024 Income Limits Summary

Projects labeled as "affordable" frequently target the 60–80 percent AMI bands. Yet most long-term East Knoxville residents, many of whom are seniors or single-parent households, fall below the 50 percent AMI threshold. When "affordable" means a two-bedroom apartment renting for $1,200 per month, families earning $30,000–$40,000 annually are still left out.
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When Equity Stops at the Property Line

The City's plan distributes funding for sidewalks, greenways, and parks across all six districts. However, a review shows that Districts 2, 4, and 5—covering Bearden, Sequoyah Hills, and North Knoxville—receive higher-value infrastructure projects that directly boost property assessments and attract private reinvestment.

Meanwhile, District 6, where poverty rates exceed 25 percent and Black residents comprise the largest population share, is assigned smaller, maintenance-level improvements such as sidewalk repairs or minor park equipment upgrades. These do little to address economic stagnation or housing displacement pressures.

This inequitable pattern echoes decades of disinvestment along Magnolia Avenue, Burlington, Parkridge, Chilhowee Park, Mechanicsville Neighborhoods and more—historically redlined and later subjected to "revitalization" plans that displaced rather than stabilized Black families.
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Public-Private Partnerships: Who Really Benefits?

Knoxville's housing strategy increasingly depends on public-private partnerships (PPPs), where city funds leverage developer projects through Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC), Payment-in-Lieu-of-Tax (PILOT) programs, Tax Increment Financing (TIF) or via grant subsidies. While these arrangements can expand housing supply, they often create long-term benefits for developers and short-term relief for residents.

Developers secure tax abatements lasting 10–20 years, locking in profit margins, while tenants face rising rents once affordability covenants expire. City funds are thus recycled into private portfolios rather than community wealth.

The same structural imbalance is visible across districts: the higher the anticipated return on investment, the larger the city's contribution. That pattern rewards already-prosperous neighborhoods while leaving struggling neighborhoods dependent on symbolic, low-impact projects.
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Vouchers Are Not a Solution

Officials sometimes argue that housing vouchers bridge the affordability gap. In practice, the system is overburdened and uneven. Knoxville's KCDC Housing Choice Voucher Program has a multi-year waitlist, and periodic verification requirements—income, employment, household composition—can lead to benefit termination for technical reasons unrelated to need.

Recipients must recertify every few months, unlike homeowners or market renters who verify income only once. Many landlords also refuse voucher holders, citing inspection delays or stigma. Thus, vouchers neither guarantee housing stability nor address root inequities. The promise of assistance becomes another bureaucratic barrier.
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The Legal and Moral Dimensions of "Disparate Impact"

Under the Fair Housing Act (Title VIII, Civil Rights Act of 1968) and subsequent U.S. Supreme Court rulings such as Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs v. Inclusive Communities Project, Inc. (2015), housing policies that disproportionately harm minority populations—regardless of intent—may constitute disparate impact discrimination.

When investment strategies systematically favor higher-income, predominantly white districts while labeling surface-level repairs in Black neighborhoods as "equity," the outcome arguably meets that standard. Equity requires equal opportunity for asset building, not simply equal line items on a budget spreadsheet.
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Deep Affordability: What It Should Mean

True equity requires prioritizing the 30 percent AMI tier—those earning less than $30,000 annually—through mixed-income cooperatives, community land trusts, and deeply affordable rental units tied to local, not regional, median income data.

Knoxville could anchor affordability to neighborhood median incomes rather than countywide figures, preventing gentrification-driven displacement. By redefining affordability metrics and targeting investment to the most burdened census tracts, the city can convert rhetoric into measurable repair.
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Conclusion: Equity Must Be Measured by Outcomes

Equity cannot be achieved through identical line items or symbolic gestures. It requires measurable outcomes—stable families, affordable homes, and genuine opportunity for asset building.

Knoxville's Five-Year Neighborhood Investment Plan is an opportunity to correct historic imbalance, but only if funding priorities are re-evaluated through an equity-first lens. The City Council and Mayor should:

• Reassess funding allocations to ensure proportional investment by need, not property value.
• Anchor affordability to neighborhood median incomes, ensuring inclusion for those at or below 30 percent AMI.
• Strengthen oversight of PPPs to guarantee community benefits beyond developer incentives.
• Expand deeply affordable housing production and streamline voucher access.

The illusion of equity can no longer suffice. Knoxville deserves a plan that truly rebuilds opportunity where it has long been denied.
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Data Sources

• City of Knoxville, Five-Year Neighborhood Investment Plan (2025)
• U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, FY 2024 Income Limits Summary (Knox County TN HUD Metro FMR Area)
• U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (2023 1-Year Estimates)
• Knoxville's Community Development Corporation (KCDC), Annual Report 2024
• Tennessee Housing Development Agency, Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Program Data, 2023
• Mapping Inequality Project (1937 HOLC Maps of Knoxville)
• City of Knoxville Redevelopment Archives (2007-2020)
• Supreme Court, Texas Dep't of Housing & Community Affairs v. Inclusive Communities Project, Inc., 576 U.S. 519 (2015)


Crystal Flack is a Knoxville resident and Community Researcher focused on economic justice, empowerment and the preservation of Black generational wealth. For more information or to join the effort opposing the sales tax increase, send your email to: gqtcwua@gmail.com.