More recognition for #1, #2 Town state ranks
This week, it was recognized for those efforts in Tennessee City Freedom Index.
With Index results announced today (Tuesday, July 1), Beacon Center of Tennessee, a free-market think tank based in Nashville that puts out the Index, has ranked Farragut No. 1 as 2025 Best for Cost of Government and No. 2 overall, climbing six spots in the overall rankings since 2020, according to Kylie Walker, communications manager for BCT.
The Town was second to Mount Juliet in the overall ranking, which was based on “fostering an environment that supports freedom and prosperity,” Mayor Ron Williams explained.
“This is a significant achievement, and we want to extend our sincere congratulations to you and your team for fostering an environment that supports freedom and prosperity,” Walker said in congratulating Williams and others.
The mayor attributed the cost of government ranking to how BOMA has run the Town without a property tax.
“We owe no one,” he said. The ranking “tells me we’re following our goals and vision.”
Williams said BCT conducts these rankings every five years, with the last ranking in 2020 when the Town ranked seventh overall.
Mayoral reviews
Williams said the Town was created with the vision of fiscal responsibility, and having no property tax was the wish of Farragut’s first mayor, Robert “Bob”
Leonard. Mayoral successors Eddy Ford, Dr. Ralph McGill and Williams also have governed without such a tax.
Each mayor left a legacy, Williams said: Leonard’s leadership skills and knowledge of law when the townspeople battled a lawsuit brought on by City of Knoxville; Ford, who brought about parks and walking trails; and McGill recruiting Costco and purchasing Campbell Station Inn.
With his term ending in 2026, Williams said he can “look back at 13 abandoned, derelict buildings in Town, which were torn down and have made way for new businesses, a community center, a renovated Town Hall and completion of Campbell Station Inn’s restoration.”
