Lake Tansi or Tellico Village? Compare the buyer files, not the brochures

The table is deliberately uneven. A missing public number is not zero, and a published community-wide number is not a parcel quote.

The Tellico Village Property Owners Association's 2026 Budget Presentation prints an assessment of $186.98 per month and $2,243.76 per year. Both are 3 percent above 2025. 1

That is a usable starting figure, but not the entire cost of ownership. The 2026 budget's revenue analysis puts assessments at about 35 percent of budgeted revenue and lists water and sewer, food service, golf, recreation and docks as separate revenue lines. A buyer should not treat every chosen amenity as included in the assessment. 1

Lake Tansi's October 2017 Restated Bylaws describe regular, business, special and associate membership classes. They tie dues, assessments and fees to the applicable class and contain separate rules for co-ownership, contiguous lots and some ownership changes. 2

The treasurer's section of a 2022 annual-meeting report said the 2023 annual POA membership dues would be set at $285. That is a dated prospective figure for 2023, not a current 2026 quote. No authoritative public 2026 regular-dues amount, complete current assessment schedule or parcel membership classification was located in the official sources checked. 3

Enter Tellico's $2,243.76 annual figure only after the POA confirms it for the parcel. Leave Lake Tansi's current dues line blank until its POA supplies the membership class, number of billable memberships and current schedule.

Build the same cost structure for both properties:

1. the mandatory association assessment or dues;
2. any second association, townhouse, neighborhood or condominium charge;
3. water, sewer, electricity, internet and other utilities;
4. property tax and insurance for the exact parcel;
5. each amenity, golf, recreation, dock, storage or boat charge the household expects to use;
6. routine house and lot maintenance;
7. current or approved special assessments; and
8. each one-time buyer or seller charge at closing.

Lake Tansi's board page directs a person with a POA card to the office for 2026 meeting minutes and financials. Several Tellico Village records routes required a free Main registration when checked, and no account was created. Those access limits do not prove a record or charge is absent. They identify documents the seller may need to obtain. 4

Lake Tansi's live homepage says Airbnbs are not allowed and quotes: “Daily and/or weekly rental of any single family residential house is prohibited.” It attributes the sentence to page 13, Article 15 of the ACC booklet. 5

The current public booklet is dated January 1, 2026. Printed page 13 covers fences and outbuildings, Article 15 appears on printed page 16 as a residential business restriction, and the file does not contain the quoted rental sentence. That mismatch is not permission. A buyer whose plan needs daily or weekly private-house income should leave it out of the arithmetic until the POA identifies the current governing document and answers for the parcel in writing. 6

Tellico Village's public Blue Book describes a permit system. It calls a stay of less than six consecutive months a Short-Term Rental and a stay of six consecutive months or more a Long-Term Rental. An ACC permit is required before either begins. The rental may include only the primary Living Unit, not an accessory dwelling unit or an uninhabitable structure such as a garage or shed. 7

The useful comparison is not “Lake Tansi prohibits and Tellico allows.” Lake Tansi has a public prohibition with a document mismatch. Tellico Village has a permit process that still needs a parcel-specific approval.

Lake Tansi's POA announced that Lake Tansi is scheduled for a drawdown in fall 2027. The public notice does not supply the exact dates, target level or refill date. The ACC booklet requires applications for shoreline protection, docks, boardwalks and boat covers. Its dredging section instead requires notice to the POA plus a state-issued permit, with wet dredging proceeding only after Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation approval and dry dredging also requiring prior state approval. A drawdown changes access to a project; it does not approve the project. 8 6

The 2009 water-harvesting agreement between the City of Crossville and Lake Tansi POA allows specified City withdrawals and requires monitoring and coordination. It does not prove that a City action caused a present lake level. 9

Tellico Village's Blue Book uses a different path. Only lots designated on their recorded plats as having shoreline privileges may submit a shoreline application. It requires permits for improvements below the 820-foot contour, including docks, lifts, water and electric service, irrigation intakes, geothermal systems, riprap, seawalls and dredging. After ACC approval, the application is forwarded to TVA and the Army Corps of Engineers before work may begin. 7

TVA separately says most shoreline construction or alteration on its reservoirs requires approval, including minor dock changes, and that an application does not guarantee approval. 10 11

Tellico Village's 2026 Reserve Study reports a starting reserve balance of $18.44 million against a $23.9 million fully funded level. It calls the assets included in the study 77 percent funded and holds $4.64 million in annual contributions flat for the first 15 years of the model. 12

The same study says approximately $312 million of assets that appeared in the 2023 study are classified as zero-funded and excluded from the 2026 update. It also says no special assessments are projected during the 30-year model. That is a projection for a defined group of assets, not a guarantee about every capital need or future Board action. 12

No comparable current public Lake Tansi reserve study, denominator or special-assessment forecast was located in the reviewed official set. Lake Tansi's official election page carries a candidate statement that a reserve study is being conducted, but a candidate statement is not the completed study, a Board adoption record or a funding result. 13

Do not turn this into “Tellico is healthy and Lake Tansi is not.” The evidence supports a detailed Tellico calculation and a Lake Tansi document request. It does not support a numerical reserve ranking.

Put a date and source beside every number. Keep unresolved figures visible. The honest comparison is between two complete parcel packets, not two listing fields. 14

Open the browser-private parcel worksheet