The staff of this agency would consist of consultants with experience in such fields as "fiscal administration…traffic and crime prevention, and…other major common problems on which the state does not now make technical advice and assistance available."

[3] In 1949, at the recommendation of TML, the Tennessee General Assembly passed Senate Bill 607, establishing a public agency, much like the one Gulick had envisioned, to serve cities and towns across the state.

Governor Gordon Browning signed the bill into law on April 15, 1949, legally establishing the Municipal Technical Advisory Service (MTAS) within the University of Tennessee (UT).

[3] Today, MTAS is one of six agencies of the UT Institute for Public Service, which the General Assembly established in 1971 to serve Tennessee cities, counties, and small industries.

The agency is organized into units and teams including Business Operations, Internal Support, the Research and Information Center, Finance, Legal and Codes, Municipal Management, Technical, and Training.

In one example from the 1980s, MTAS consultants worked extensively with the Tennessee Department of Health and Environment (TDHE) to help cities that were seeking to obtain grants to improve their wastewater treatment facilities.

The CMFO program seeks to improve municipal finance officers' abilities to record and report financial data in the most accurate and timely manner, in accordance with standard accounting principles required by the state.

[13] The EOA covers topics such as municipal government structure, charters and codes, local finances, city council responsibilities, risk management, and media relations, among others.

[1] In addition, Tennessee Code Annotated § 6-54-1007 states that MTAS "shall develop the continuing education curricula" and conduct training for anyone appointed to serve as a city's administrative hearing officer.