Image Credit: Speaker Cameron Sexton / Facebook & Canva
Tennessee Conservative News [By Olivia Lupia] –
Amid continued pressure from constituents and Nashville business owners, Speaker of the Tennessee House Cameron Sexton and other Republican leadership appear to be pushing for a special legislative session during the next couple months to address skyrocketing property taxes which are significantly impacting homeowners and businesses alike as Tennessee remains one of four states not to have any kind of cap.
In Sexton’s own words, sent to The Tennessee Conservative from a constituent who contacted the Speaker regarding a potential property tax cap, “I can’t speak for the State Senate other than the property tax cap bill didn’t move out of their committee this year. We [the House] passed it out of sub-committee and had all the votes to move it out of full committee. Unfortunately, it ended up being general sub in the senate which effectively killed the bill. The house and senate must pass matching bills for it to become law.
There have been discussions to hold a special session in the Fall. I’m hopeful we will be able to pass the bill as it gains momentum from the public. Capping property tax increases is one part of the bill, the other is removing the unrealized capital gains used on the property assessments…As far as our overall tax burden, Tennessee is either the lowest or second lowest tax burden of all states based off the source being used.
As the state representative and as speaker we have eliminated the inheritance tax, gift tax, and the halls income tax. We have reduced the sales tax on groceries twice, provided sales tax holidays, and passed a constitutional amendment banning income tax in the state.” (The income tax amendment will appear on the November ballot for final voter decision).
It is unclear from Sexton’s remarks why this issue would necessitate a separate special session of the legislature as the issue was clearly able to be discussed during the regular session, evidenced in the two bills introduced, and subsequently killed, earlier this year.
Both SB2064, mentioned by Sexton in his above comments, and SB2002 were general subbed in the Senate and taken off notice in the House, failing to make it to the floor for a vote. The proposals were similar, just varying in the cap percentage and their durations.
Sexton also recently reportedly met with country singer John Rich and other Nashville business owners who have felt the effects of staggering property tax hikes, agreeing, along with Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson, to request Gov. Lee call the special session and implement some guardrails to protect Tennessee taxpayers.
But what a property tax cap would look like practically remains up for debate. States generally use three types of limits:
- Assessment caps- limits how quickly the taxable value of a property can increase
- Rate cap- limits the property tax rate a government can impose
- Levy cap- limits growth in the total amount of property tax revenue a local government can collect
“There are quite a few different approaches to how states have implemented a cap,” said Jack Powers of the Beacon Center of Tennessee. “It’s hard to point to a certain state and say this one is one Tennessee should follow because I really think it needs to be a unique solution for Tennessee.”
Powers also emphasized that as majority of other states combine at least two restrictions, Tennessee lawmakers have plenty of examples to study in their consideration of what limits could look like within the state.
Senator Mark Pody (R-Lebanon-District 17) believes lawmakers need to strike the right balance between protecting taxpayers and ensuring local governments can properly provide services like police, fire, schools, roads, and infrastructure, especially as many Tennessee communities are experiencing rapid growth.
Pody said he does not favor totally hampering local officials but instead thinks there could be an option for when a local government believes it needs an increase above whatever limit lawmakers might establish.
“If they’re going to have an increase over a certain percentage, that just needs to be done by referendum,” he said. “That way they can take the case directly to the taxpayers in that area and share, here’s why we need such a large increase and why it’s so valid at this point and let the citizens of that community make that decision.”
All these considerations will need to be weighed by lawmakers in discussing a property tax cap system, whether upon the General Assembly’s return to Nashville in January of 2027 or in a special session sometime in the coming months.
If a special session is called, it will be the second of the year as the 114th General Assembly reconvened in May to redistrict Tennessee’s congressional map, resulting in the cracking of Memphis and causing all nine districts to become Republican-leaning.
Sources:
Cameron Sexton constituent email
https://tennesseeconservativenews.com/new-report-shows-tennessee-leads-nation-in-property-tax-hikes/
https://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/Default?BillNumber=HB1873&GA=114
https://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/Default?BillNumber=SB2002
About the Author: Olivia Lupia is a political refugee from Colorado who now calls Tennessee home. A proud follower of Christ, she views all political happenings through a Biblical lens and aims to utilize her knowledge and experience to educate and equip others. Olivia is an outspoken conservative who has run for local office, managed campaigns, and been highly involved with state & local GOPs, state legislatures, and other grassroots organizations and movements. Olivia can be reached at olivia@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
