Fairview native with deep roots and a finance background—describes the approach as pragmatic and people-first. Fairview will always be closely tied to the Nashville metro employment market, he notes, but the city’s focus is squarely on quality of life: the amenities, safety, green space, and small-town spirit that make it one of the best places to raise a family. That quality-of-life lens has become even more important as the cost of living has shifted. Property values have climbed sharply in recent years, with the median home value rising from roughly $256,800 in 2020 to about $446,619 in 2025. As part of Williamson County—long recognized as Tennessee’s wealthiest county—Fairview has felt that escalation more acutely than some neighbors that already had higher baselines. The market has cooled and stabilized from its peak, but the step-change in values is unmistakable. It brings benefits in household wealth and tax base dynamics—and pressures, too, for long-time residents and for public-sector pay scales in an increasingly competitive labor market. Even so, the city chose to hold its property tax rate neutral in this assessment year. Finance Director– turned–City Manager Tom Daugherty and Economic & Community Development Officer Patti Carroll explain that Fairview raised its rate in 2016 and again in 2022; leadership felt the city could navigate 2025 without another increase. Hindsight always brings second-guessing—especially with regional wage escalation in public safety—but the decision reflects Fairview’s careful balance between fiscal responsibility and resident impact. Salaries and retention are now front of mind. “Our people are our greatest asset,” Daugherty says. “If we don’t take care of our team, everything else eventually suffers.” The central storyline of Fairview’s next chapter is the City Center—a multi-phase mixed-use district rising along Highway 100.The site has broken ground, and crews have already installed stormwater systems and utility lines; ten single-family homes have gone up on the back side as the project moves toward vertical construction, expected to begin in fiscal 2026.The plan steps purposefully from street-facing shops and restaurants to condominiums, and then transitions to single-family neighborhoods, knitting new housing directly to everyday conveniences. A planned greenway will connect City Center into the park system, and sidewalks will extend walkability within the district and out to surrounding streets. “City Center will be a game-changer,” Daugherty says. “It puts front-door energy on Highway 100 while threading new residences into a neighborhood fabric that lets people walk to dinner, to a pocket park, to a trail.” 105 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 06, ISSUE 12 FAIRVIEW, TN
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