According to Transparent Tennessee, eight counties in the state have been determined to be economically “distressed” by the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC).
“Each year, the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) prepares an index of county economic status for every county in the United States,” according to Transparent Tennessee. “Economic status designations are identified through a composite measure of each county’s three-year average unemployment rate, per capita market income, and poverty rate. Based on these indicators, each county is then categorized as distressed, at-risk, transitional, competitive or attainment.”
The eight “distressed” counties in Tennessee are Clay, Scott, Hancock, Cocke, Bledsoe, Perry, Hardeman and Lake.
In all, 27 counties in Tennessee are described as being “at risk” for becoming “distressed.”
The state has the following goals, according to Transparent Tennessee
- Tennessee will reduce the number of economically distressed counties to 10 by 2025.
- Tennessee will achieve annual improvement in county economic status ranking in 70 percent of rural counties.
While at present, Tennessee is meeting its goal of reducing the number of economically “distressed” counties fewer than 10 by the year 2025, “at-risk” counties must either maintain their current status or improve in order for the state to meet its 2025 goal.
As of this year, only 33 percent of Tennessee’s counties are improving economically, based on the county economic status rankings out in place by the ACR.
In 2022, that number was 65 percent, showing that the rankings can drastically shift year over year.
Transparent Tennessee is a project of Gov. Bill Lee (R).
“The administration continues to work to have a customer-focused, efficient and effective state government,” according to the Transparent Tennessee Website. “From decreasing wait times at Driver Service Centers to processing online tax returns, we are working to provide the best possible customer service at the lowest possible cost.”
“Transparency and accountability are key aspects of those efforts,” the website says. “This page, Transparent Tennessee, was created to provide a ‘one-stop shop’ online for Tennessee taxpayers to learn more about the administration’s vision and goals for the state, how the departments of state government are doing in terms of achieving those goals, how Tennessee compares to other states and where state tax dollars are being spent.”
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Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter.
Photo “Man Paying Bills” by Mikhail Nilov.
