Allison Myers has one of the most important jobs with the town of Farragut, but unless you attend a Board of Mayor and Alderman meeting, you might never see her. And that’s just the way she wants it.
Allison is the town recorder/treasurer. She puts together the agenda for each board meeting and keeps track of the paperwork for each agenda item. She sits at the front of the board room during meetings to answer any questions that come up, as they inevitably do.
“If I could sit in the back of the room, I would,” she laughs.
She also assembles two essential documents each year – the town’s budget and the financial report. She’s pretty good at both. This year, Farragut received a Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting from the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) for the 29th consecutive year. Allison has created this document for 17 years, which seems impossible given her age.
The truth is that Allison basically grew up working for the town. She graduated from Lenoir City High School and got a job at Ace Hardware near Dixie Lee Junction when she was 18. She was interviewed by Knick Myers, who owned the store with his brother, Noah. It didn’t take long for romance to blossom between the paint and the power tools, and Noah and Allison were married in 2000. They have two children, Luke and Kate.
Allison started her education at Pellissippi State Community College before moving on to the University of Tennessee, where she graduated with a degree in marketing. After graduation, she worked as a property manager briefly before applying to work for the town. She already knew several members of the staff through her work at Ace Hardware, including then-Town Administrator Dan Olson. She began her career with the town as accounting clerk and moved into her current position three years later.
Putting the town’s budget together each year is an incredibly important part of what the board does, although very few residents participate in the process, she says.
“I don’t think people realize that the budgeting process takes a good six months and there are 4-6 workshops each year that are open to the public. If you look at the budget, you can see plans for the coming year as well as future projects that require setting aside funds for several years.”
While the budget is a planning document that includes how much money the town has and how much it intends to spend, the audited financial report shows what was actually spent. Both documents are available at townoffarragut.org/financials.
The town began submitting the budget to GFOA seven years ago and has won the Distinguished Budget Presentation Award each time. Submitting the budget and financial report to GFOA helps Allison because documents are reviewed by peers who provide feedback on best practices. Having extra eyes on the documents also creates transparency, she says.
Even though Allison doesn’t like to be in the spotlight, it’s important that Farragut’s financial information be clear, concise, and available for citizens to peruse at their convenience. The town is fortunate to have professional staff who are always striving to be the best at what they do.
Town of Farragut marketing and public relations coordinator Wendy Smith is your reliable Farragut insider.