End of penny production sees little local impact

KINGSPORT — While the saying goes "a penny for your thoughts," it is unclear what that means for future generations following the end of the one-cent coin's manufacturing last year. The U.S. Mint announced the end of the penny's 232-year production run on Nov. 12, 2025, after citing the rising cost to make the coin as a factor in the decision — as well as the Secretary of the Treasury deeming the penny "no longer necessary." On the Penny Frequently Asked Questions page of the U.S. Mint website, it is stated that the penny remains legal tender and can still be used for transactions. The cost of producing the penny is estimated to have increased from 1.42 cents to 3.69 cents per penny, with the Mint projecting to save approximately $56 million per year in production costs from the change. State perspective In January, the Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury Jason Mumpower released a memo on the halt of penny production. The memo was intended to provide guidance for local governments in adopting processing procedures. Some options for local government listed in the memo were the following: Requiring or encouraging customers to provide exact change when making cash payments Offering alternative payment methods including debit cards, credit cards, electronic checks or online payment portals Establishing protocols for crediting a customer's account when a customer is paying non-exact cash for recurring payments Declining to accept non-exact cash payments, when authorized Adjusting rates, fees and charges within the local government's legal authority to multiples of $0.05 or $0.10 Artazn LLC, formerly known as Jarden Zinc, was the nation's sole producer of penny blanks, located in Greeneville. Local impact Michael Blevins with Eastman Credit Union said ECU has an agreement with a currency courier service that rolls and their pennies and then recirculates them. "Even though we can't continue to order them from the Federal Reserve, that's how we're currently handling the situation where, as long as individuals have pennies in circulation and continue to utilize them and they're bringing them in and [will] recirculate them in that manner," Blevins said. He also said ECU offers a coin counting service to its members at no charge, which can result in more pennies on hand. "They bring in their excess change, we count that change for them, and then in turn, we either give it back to them in bills or deposit it to their account," Blevins said. "So we have a constant flow of pennies coming in through those members that are bringing those pennies to us." According to Blevins, local businesses are not requesting pennies in the same amount as before the phase-out. "We've not really seen many changes, because most of the businesses have adopted the rounding feature," he said. "Most of the ones that I visited personally, you'll go in, even Chick-fil-A has a rounding implementation on their door that says they'll round up or down to the nearest five-cent mark." While Blevins said the flow of pennies at ECU is still consistent, he commented on how change has become less important to the public in a digital world. "Most of the time individuals are using either a credit card or something similar to say, Zelle, PayPal or Venmo, one of the other options to basically pay individuals and to pay their bills as well," he said. Robin Cleary, senior director for the Downtown Kingsport Association, said in a statement to the Times News that DKA has not received feedback from businesses regarding the penny changes or been asked to issue any guidance. Kingsport Chief Financial Officer Travis Bishop said in an emailed statement the city has not implemented a formal policy related to rounding practices related to the end of penny production, and he also noted the city currently has an "adequate supply" of pennies. "However, the city is actively evaluating the issue and working to develop a policy that ensures consistency and fairness in financial transactions," Bishop said in the statement. "As part of this process, we are reviewing guidance from the State of Tennessee, along with practices adopted by other municipalities, to determine the most appropriate approach for our operations." Bishop said until a formal policy is established, the city of Kingsport will continue processing transactions under its existing procedures. Sullivan County At the office of Sullivan County Clerk Teresa Jacobs in Blountville, which has branches in Kingsport and Bristol, Chief Bridgette Gammon said a penny supply issue hasn't hit that office yet. It takes in money for vehicle registration, license plates and license plate renewals, as well as taking in payments for issuing business, drivers and marriage licenses. "We're still getting pennies from the bank. We really haven't had any issues at this point," Gammon said Thursday. "We're still able to function as normal." Gammon said the only cash payments that would be possibly made using pennies would be sales tax paid when someone buys a motor vehicle or anything with a title. For instance, she said to register a vehicle and get plates for a vehicle costs $46 even or $57 even, if a lien is on the vehicle title. She added that state officials are in the process of providing guidance on options or suggestions on how localities can handle the situation in the long term, assuming pennies become in shorter supply in the future since no more are being made. County Trustee Angela "Angel" Taylor, whose office handles property taxes from residents and businesses, could not be reached for comment Thursday or Friday. However, an employee who Thursday answered the phone in her office in Blountville said those who pay property taxes with a credit card pay a 2.5% fee like customers of other county offices that accept credit cards. Also in Sullivan County, Planning Director Luke Meade said planning and zoning application and building permit fees are in dollar increments. "All of our fees are actually rounded off to the dollar," Meade said Thursday. "We do generally request they have each change." He said that is so the office won't have to keep a lot of change around for things such as building permits. County Mayor Richard Venable Thursday said that most transactions, particularly large ones going to county coffers, are either by credit card, check, money order or electronic transfer. He said the county for the most part has "no need to round," since fees and taxes are only down to dollars, not cents. "These numbers are basically rounded themselves," Venable said, adding that the mayor's office rarely if ever had need to accept money in any form for payments. Hawkins County Hawkins County Mayor Mark DeWitte said county operations will largely be unaffected by the end of penny minting. The mayor's office doesn't take cash; the trustee's billing, which goes out from the state, is already rounded to the nearest dollar; the county clerk's billing amounts, also set by the state, do not have cents on them. While the chancery court accepts cash, Clerk and Master Brent Price said they don't have a rounding policy as they haven't struggled to get pennies. Price said there won't be a policy until pennies become more scarce, causing an issue. Most of the court's transactions are by check or debit card, he said. In Mount Carmel, the town's taxes, fees and fines are whole dollar amounts, Assistant Town Manager Tyler Williams said. There is currently no plan to implement a formal policy. Williams said cash payments are still somewhat common, especially among the town's older population, but most payments are by check or credit card. Other Hawkins County municipalities could not be reached for this story. Utilities like the Mooresburg Utility District and Holston Electric Cooperative have asked customers to round their cash payments to the nearest nickel if they don't have exact change. The credit will be applied to the customer's next bill cycle; for instance, if they paid an extra four cents one month, that amount would be subtracted from their next bill. Scott County Most people paying property taxes and various county fees at the Scott County Treasurer's Office use checks or debit or credit cards, said Scott County Treasurer Kevin Helms, and that means relatively few worries about giving exact change with pennies. "When I do go to get change for the office, though, the bank does ask how many pennies I'm going to need," Helms added. Kingsport Times News reporters Rick Wagner, Mike Still and Sarah Monoson contributed to this report.