Johnson City Sets $1.66 Tax Rate 3-1, With 8 Cents for Aquatics

Johnson City Commission approved Ordinance 4951-26 on third and final reading Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, setting the city property tax rate at $1.66 per $100 of assessed value in Washington County. The vote was 3-1 at a special called meeting. WCYB reported the rate is a 28-cent increase from the figure that had been in the FY2027 budget. Eight cents of that 28-cent bump is earmarked for debt service on a planned aquatics facility WCYB put at about $37 million.

Residential property in Tennessee is assessed at 25 percent of appraised value. WCYB's examples, which this desk copies: a $200,000 appraised home would see about $140 more a year; a $300,000 home about $210; a $400,000 home about $280. The 8-cent aquatics slice is about $40, $60, and $80 on those same three appraisals. The ordinance still goes to the Tennessee Comptroller for certification. Bills go out in the fall.

What did commissioners actually vote?

The special called meeting on Aug. 13 was the third and final reading. WCYB identified the ordinance as 4951-26 and the Washington County city rate as $1.66 per $100 assessed. Portions of the city that sit in Carter County and Sullivan County carry a lower city rate; WCYB noted that split without printing the other two numbers in the stories this desk opened. Those other two numbers are omitted here.

Commissioner Joe Wise, quoted by WCYB, backed the 8 cents for the aquatics piece as a dedicated debt-service line, not a blank check to start pouring a pool next month. There is no construction timeline on a new aquatic center in the stories this desk opened. Freedom Hall's existing pool is the stopgap. Yahoo's reprint of WJHL's coverage quoted a resident on $864,000 in PEP funds allocated for Freedom Hall pool repairs as a 6-to-8-year patch. That $864,000 figure is a resident's public comment as reported, not a bid tab.

Public comment ran both ways. Chris Edwards spoke against the increase. Other residents spoke for and against the aquatics slice. This article does not invent a full roll-call of who sat in the dais chairs beyond the 3-1 result WCYB printed. If the city posts certified minutes with named yeas and nays, use those. Until then, 3-1 on Ordinance 4951-26 is the vote.

How much of the 28 cents is the pool?

Eight cents. The other 20 cents is the operating-budget piece commissioners had already been fighting through the summer. Yahoo's WJHL reprint, writing from the earlier budget fight, put a prior aquatic-center proposal near $39 million. WCYB's Aug. 13 stories, written the day of the vote, used about $37 million for the facility tied to the 8-cent debt-service line. This desk uses WCYB's $37 million for the adopted 8 cents and treats $39 million as the earlier proposal in the June coverage.

Do not tell a Johnson City seller that an aquatic center is funded, sited, and under construction. The tax rate is set. The debt-service penny is reserved. The building is not on a calendar.

Does a $1.66 rate change what a Johnson City house is worth?

It changes the buyer's payment math. It does not automatically cut your list price by $140. A $400,000-plus owner in Johnson City, Gray, or Jonesborough is still pricing off closed comps, condition, and days on market — not off a millage table. Northeast Tennessee Association of REALTORS July 2026 new-home figures, copied from the live Gray subdivisions desk: 56 new-home sales (down 17.6 percent from 68), median $365,588 (up 3.8 percent), average $403,651, $207.38 per square foot. Closings clustered in Blountville (13), Johnson City (11), Jonesborough (8), and Kingsport (7). Those are new-home numbers. Do not mix them with existing-home medians this article does not have a live source for.

If you are listing a $400,000-plus existing house, the tax line is a disclosure. Put the $1.66 Washington County city rate in the remarks if a buyer will see it on the first tax bill. Do not cut $20,000 off the ask because commissioners funded an 8-cent aquatics slice. The buyer who wants your house is running a 6.65% 30-year payment against other listings, not against a pool that has no construction date.

Can I buy the next Tri-Cities house before this one sells?

You can write the offer. A contingent contract is still a maybe. Fifty-six new-home sales in July is a thinner tape than 68 a year ago. Existing-home buyers shopping Johnson City this week have more time to walk. That helps you as a buyer. It is a warning when you list. Our proven system puts a sale date under the house you own so the next contract is not hanging on a 3-1 tax vote or a 68-day rumor.* If you need a date certain, ask about a cash offer.

The two-house problem did not change on Aug. 13. You cannot honor the next address until this one is settled. Waiting for the Comptroller to certify the rate, or for an aquatic center that has no groundbreaking, is how a listing misses the fall showing calendar.

What should Johnson City owners do this week?

1. If you live in the Washington County portion of the city, budget the WCYB examples against your own appraisal — $140 / $210 / $280 on $200k / $300k / $400k — and wait for the certified bill this fall. Do not use a calculator this article does not print.
2. If you are listing, disclose the $1.66 rate. Price the house to comps, not to the 8-cent aquatics line.
3. If you need to be in the next house before this one closes, start with a home evaluation this week. Ask about a cash offer if the retail clock is the problem.
4. Thursday, Aug. 20's regular meeting carried a public hearing on Ordinance 4952-26, the appropriations ordinance. This desk will not invent that roll call. Read the minutes when the city posts them.

Call Kings of Real Estate at 865-365-2280. Knoxville office: 121 Suburban Road, Suite 101. Licensed agents: $250/mo desk fee.

What's happening in the Tri-Cities this week

• Appalachian Fair — Sat., Aug. 22 through Sat., Aug. 29 · 100 Lakeview Street, Gray
• Lawnstock — Sat., Aug. 22, 1–8 p.m. · Founders Park, Johnson City
• Ordinance 4951-26 tax rate — adopted third reading Thu., Aug. 13, 3-1; Comptroller certification next, bills in the fall

Sources: WCYB, Aug. 13, 2026 (Johnson City approves tax rates, 28-cent increase; commissioners adopt higher property tax rate); Yahoo reprint of WJHL, Johnson City Commission approves 2026 rate; NETAR July 2026 new-home report as published on news.kingsofrealestate.com; Freddie Mac PMMS, Aug. 20, 2026; Appalachian Fair and Lawnstock event listings.

Get a home evaluation →
Ask about a cash offer →

*Tracy and seller must agree upon price and possession date. Kings of Real Estate, LLC DBA "Your Home Sold Guaranteed Realty"