The Municipal Technical Advisory Service (MTAS) is an agency of the University of Tennessee Institute for Public Service (IPS) that provides assistance and training to municipal officials and employees in Tennessee, among them mayors, council members, city managers, city administrators, city recorders, and department heads.
History
In April 1948, public administration expert Luther Gulick delivered the keynote address for the ninth annual convention of the Tennessee Municipal League (TML). In this speech, Gulick discussed the need for Tennessee to establish "a local government technical advisory service," within either the Department of Finance and Taxation or the state university. The staff of this agency would consist of consultants with experience in such fields as "fiscal administration…traffic and crime prevention, and…other major common problems on which the state does not now make technical advice and assistance available." A director would lead the agency, and an advisory council – made up of local government officials and experts, as well as technical representatives from major state departments – would give the new agency guidance and direction.
Gulick's proposal resonated with TML's director, Herb Bingham, who carried the proposal to the state legislature. In 1949, at the recommendation of TML, the Tennessee General Assembly passed Senate Bill 607, establishing a public agency, much like the one Gulick had envisioned, to serve cities and towns across the state. Governor Gordon Browning signed the bill into law on April 15, 1949, legally establishing the Municipal Technical Advisory Service (MTAS) within the University of Tennessee (UT). According to the bill, MTAS's goals and responsibilities would include conducting studies and research in municipal government, distributing publications, and "furnishing technical, consultative, and field services to municipalities in problems relating to fiscal administration, accounting, tax assessment and collection, law enforcement, improvements and public works, and in any and all matters relating to municipal government." The General Assembly also stipulated that MTAS would be funded through a line-item in the UT budget and through a small percentage of municipalities' share of the state sales tax revenues. MTAS began offering services to cities in 1949, with an annual budget of $70,000. Victor Hobday served as municipal management consultant, Murphy U. Snoderly as engineering and public works consultant, Procter C. Greenwood as legal consultant, and Pan Dodd Eimon as publications consultant. Within the next few years, MTAS hired a finance consultant, William Snodgrass, as well as a second management consultant, Ed Meisenhelder. MTAS also provided cities with a way to access the expertise of UT faculty and personnel. In the mid-1950s, MTAS underwent further expansion with the addition of a codification attorney.
Gerald W. Shaw of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) was appointed to act as MTAS's first Executive Director and served in this capacity until 1951, when Victor C. Hobday, a management consultant at MTAS, took up the role. Hobday served as Executive Director until 1980, and by the time of his retirement, MTAS's staff had grown to include 25 consultants. Today, MTAS is one of six agencies of the UT Institute for Public Service, which the General Assembly established in 1971 to serve Tennessee cities, counties, and small industries. IPS's other agencies are the County Technical Assistance Service (CTAS), Center for Industrial Services (CIS), Law Enforcement Innovation Center (LEIC), Naifeh Center for Effective Leadership, and the Tennessee Language Center.
Offices & organization
MTAS's headquarters is located in Knoxville, with satellite offices in Chattanooga, Jackson, Johnson City, Martin, Memphis, and Nashville.
Positioned within UT, MTAS is a non-political, objective, and multi-disciplinary agency, and it continues to work in cooperation with the Tennessee Municipal League. MTAS's staff includes many former municipal executives and department heads.
MTAS's Executive Director reports to one of IPS's two Assistant Vice Presidents, who in turn reports to the IPS Vice President. The agency is organized into units and teams including Business Operations, Internal Support, the Research and Information Center, Finance, Legal and Codes, Municipal Management, Technical, and Training.