Payroll processing for all county employees - with the exception of the schools and several of the constitutional offices - is the responsibility of the Payroll Division. Several county-affiliated agencies also utilize these services, they are: The Community Action Committee, the Knox County Community Health Agency, the Metropolitan Planning Commission, the Geographic Information System, the Knoxville/Knox County Emergency Communications District, the Chancery Court, and the Public Building Authority.

The majority of employees are paid bi-weekly. As a result of present pay scheduling, this means there are paychecks being distributed each week to various groups.

Using the exception processing features of the automated payroll/personnel system, new employees are added, deductions are changed, hours are adjusted, and paychecks and reports are generated in the one week lag time between hours worked and check creation.

In addition to ensuring that deductions for taxes, medical insurance, etc., for these more than 2,500 employees are properly withheld and processed, this group monitors the earned vacation and sick leave benefits, pays medical and dental claims to the administrator of the county's self-insured program, and prepares the internal charges of fringe benefits to the county departments.

Employee benefit programs that require payroll deductions such as reduced monthly parking in the county-owned garage, and pre-tax medical reimbursement accounts generally require administrative assistance as well as transaction processing.