Mayor Indya Kincannon

Knoxville Mayor Indya Kincannon gave her State of the City Address, highlighting how the city is on a roll and sharing her $461.6 million budget with a pledge to see transformational projects through the finish line. The Mayor’s priorities include enhancing public safety, relieving the acute housing shortage, creating jobs and equitable economic opportunities, investing in public infrastructure, and being brilliant at the basics.

Mayor Kincannon shared the significant strides made in housing initiatives, including investing more in affordable, attainable housing than ever before and leveraging millions of private dollars to create homes for thousands of Knoxville families. Specifically, she shared how, for the first time in Knoxville’s history, local philanthropists are donating more than $2 million to help accelerate affordable housing. She also highlighted the partnership with Knox County to launch the first-ever Joint Office of Housing Stability, which has led coordinated efforts to help residents in need.

The Mayor celebrated the progress the city is making in protecting its clean air and water, ensuring the community is ready for extreme weather events. She noted that thanks to support from the Biden-Harris Administration’s Inflation Reduction Act, they will plant thousands of more trees across the community. Knoxville is also working to reduce its carbon footprint and increase its resiliency through electrifying its fleet, including more EVs for police and firefighters and more electric buses.

Mayor Kincannon is committed to keeping the community safe and shared that crime has been down for the second year due to the collective efforts of KPD, KFD, the Office of Community Safety and Empowerment, and community groups. The Mayor also shared efforts to ensure people can move around the city without harm when walking, biking, taking the bus, or driving through Knoxville’s Vision Zero plan, which aims to eliminate traffic deaths on city streets by 2040. Further, with support from President Biden’s federal investments, Knoxville will have $8 million to implement safety initiatives on Broadway, Woodland, and Magnolia Avenue.

Watch the Mayor’s full address here.

More State of the City Addresses

Las Vegas, Nevada

Mayor Shelley Berkley

Mayor Shelley Berkley delivered her State of the City Address, looking to the future and outlining how Las Vegas will continue to be a leading city that assists those in need, creates new opportunities, and provides safe and beautiful neighborhoods and amenities. She emphasized the city’s continued focus on helping vulnerable residents through expanded services, including the MORE Team pilot program, which connects individuals experiencing homelessness with mental health professionals, health workers, and street medicine, as well as the new Community Court that prioritizes structure, monitoring, and resources over punitive approaches.

Nashville, Tennessee

Mayor Freddie O’Connell

In his State of the Metro Address, Mayor Freddie O’Connell described his vision for a Nashville that is affordable, safe, healthy, welcoming, and prosperous, a city for everyone, and emphasized that progress will be purposeful, even when it is not always loud or linear. He outlined steps his administration will take to make Nashville more affordable, including proposals to cut the grocery tax, expand access to childcare, support small businesses, create jobs, build more housing, and invest in children from birth.

Knoxville, Tennessee

In her seventh State of the City Address, Mayor Indya Kincannon proposed a lean budget that continues to prioritize public safety, affordable housing, parks, and high-quality people-focused services. She also emphasized the importance of being good stewards of taxpayer dollars, noting that her budget proposal covers essential services without raising taxes, even as the city navigates inflation, rising costs, and broader economic uncertainty.