The Knoxville City Council split vote passed at their meeting Monday night regarding inspection fees with the Marion County Fair board.

The agreement regarding inspection fees and building permits, specifically at the Knoxville Raceway, had been in place since 1997. The agreement with the county is no longer active, so a new one was needed to be made. The agreement essentially means that the Knoxville Raceway is not required to pay inspection fees for projects that they do at the facility. After a lengthy discussion with Knoxville Raceway General Manager Jason Reed as to why they’ve  been exempt from these fees, the agreement ultimately passed. Knoxville City Manager Heather Ussery says there were some concerns from council members on the nature of the agreement. 

“We do currently waive fees for Marion County along with the school. The reasoning for that is we are all taxing entities, and to ensure we’re not charging another taxing entity for that. The fair board and fair association are a little bit different. They aren’t taxing entities, so it is a little bit of a different dynamic. There were questions, and concerns from council members if it was valid to continue those fees.”

Hear more about the agreement from Heather Ussery on today’s Let’s Talk Knoxville.