Local Option Sales Tax is one of the primary sources of revenue for Blount County Government.  For Blount County Government, it benefits Education, the County Highway Department, and County Debt (which is 90% education related).  The following shows how Sales Tax works:

• State Sales Tax on most items or services is 7%.  
• Local Sales Tax is 2.75%.  

The State collects the entire 9.75% from local businesses monthly.  The State keeps 7% and sends 2.75% back to Blount County.  Half of the money sent back to Blount County goes for Education and is split based on WFTEADA (weighted full time equivalent average daily attendance) between Blount County Schools, City of Maryville Schools, and City of Alcoa Schools.  The other half of the money goes back to its point of collection (local cities and unincorporated Blount County).  An example is below:

EXAMPLE
If the State sends Blount County $2,500,000 in Sales Tax, it would be allocated similar to the illustration below:

POINT OF COLLECTION (government of where the sales tax was collected)	COLLECTION
BLOUNT COUNTY (outside the cities)	$400,000
CITY OF MARYVILLE	$1,000,000
CITY OF ALCOA	$1,000,000
CITY OF FRIENDSVILLE	$25,000
CITY OF TOWNSEND	$25,000
CITY OF ROCKFORD	$25,000
CITY OF LOUISVILLE	$25,000
TOTAL SENT FROM STATE	$2,500,000
HALF OF THE TOTAL IS ALLOCATED TO EDUCATION ($1,250,000)
BLOUNT COUNTY SCHOOLS (approx. 60%)	$750,000
CITY OF MARYVILLE SCHOOLS (approx. 29%)	$362,500
CITY OF ALCOA SCHOOLS (approx. 11%)	$137,500
TOTAL ALLOCATED TO EDUCATION	$1,250,000
HALF OF THE INDIVIDUAL TOTALS IS ALLOCATED TO POINTS OF COLLECTION
BLOUNT COUNTY HIGHWAY DEPT. (Highway & Debt split $200,000 County portion)	$164,000
BLOUNT COUNTY DEBT SERVICE (Highway & Debt split $200,000 County portion)	$36,000
CITY OF MARYVILLE GOVERNMENT	$500,000
CITY OF ALCOA GOVERNMENT	$500,000
CITY OF FRIENDSVILLE GOVERNMENT	$12,500
CITY OF TOWNSEND GOVERNMENT	$12,500
CITY OF ROCKFORD GOVERNMENT	$12,500
CITY OF LOUISVILLE GOVERNMENT	$12,500
TOTAL ALLOCATED TO THE POINTS OF COLLECTION	$1,250,000