Since the 1980s, the community has faced economic hardship due to political turmoil in its government operations, and the outsourcing of its retail and municipal services to neighboring Church Hill and Kingsport. In 2020, the city would begin discussions of connecting to either of the two cities' sewer systems following the Mount Carmel sewer plant going insolvent. Calls for Mount Carmel to merge into Kingsport or Church Hill have been raised since 2021 because of the financial instability.
Since the 1980s the community has faced economic hardship due to political turmoil in its government operations and the outsourcing of its retail and municipal services to neighboring Church Hill and Kingsport. In 2020, the city would begin discussions of connecting to either of the two cities' sewer systems following the Mount Carmel sewer plant going insolvent. Calls for Mount Carmel to merge into Kingsport or Church Hill have been raised since 2021 because of the financial instability.