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My name is Joe Brooks. I was born in Tazewell, TN. My parents were Jerry R Brooks and Patricia Lynn (Collins) Brooks of Tazewell. I graduated high school in 1988. I served in the US Navy. I have a BA in Philosophy and a Masters in Social Work. I operate Brooks Farms and am the current County Mayor.

I have served on the Executive Board of ETDD/ETHRA and in July I will assume the duties of Chairperson. I serve on the TCSA Board representing all county mayors from the eastern grand division of the state. Both allow me to advocate for Claiborne County. I have worked with a countywide approach. I have realigned the finance department and the 911 board to better service Claiborne County.  Since 2018 I have engaged agencies on the state and federal level to bring in beneficial programs and opportunities for Claiborne County, and I have been successful. Promises were made, promises were kept.

Revenue is the most important concern for the county. In the past, Claiborne County has relied heavily on property tax to fund its operations while overlooking the local option sales tax to offset the need to raise property taxes. With inflation on the rise there are already talks about raising property taxes amongst many county commissioners.

I will continue to work as I have over the last four years to develop around our natural assets to attract more tourists into the county who bring outside tax dollars. By developing the county to attract businesses we can begin to see one-half of the local option sales tax revenue stay on the county side. While the local option sales tax is divided between the point of sale and the school system, last year the school system received nearly $4M in local option sales tax revenue. I will work to increase Claiborne County’s part of the local option sales tax by $2M annually during my second term.