Tennessee Voters To Weigh In On Statewide Property Tax Ban in November

Image Credit: Tennessee Secretary of State & Canva.

Article by the Tennessee Conservative News staff –

When Tennesseans take to the polls in November, they will have a chance to vote on a constitutional amendment that would ban property taxes statewide.

Currently, Tennessee homeowners only pay property taxes as set by their city or county governments. However, state legislators hold the authority to set a state-level property tax at any time.

Before it reaches the ballot box, a constitutional amendment must first be presented as a Joint Resolution in the state legislature, passing the General Assembly with a majority vote the first year and a 2/3 majority the next.

Once before voters, the amendment must receive more “Yes” votes than “No”, and the number of “Yes” votes must be greater than half of all votes cast in the governor’s race.

If passed in the upcoming voting cycle, Amendment 2 would change the current statute and would require an amendment to the state constitution before a statewide property tax could be put into effect.

Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett is encouraging voters to do their research and familiarize themselves with the amendment before actually showing up at the polls.

“These amendments can be long. They are long, and then you add the summary to it,” Hargett said. “Imagine you’re standing in a booth and you’re taking five, seven, eight, 10 minutes to read these constitutional amendments and then try and make a decision on the fly about if you’re going to vote for or against them. You’re not only taking up a lot of time in the ballot box, also everybody behind you is having to wait as well.”

Tennessee voters previously approved an amendment in November 2014 to prohibit a statewide income tax or payroll tax.

“Tennessee has long felt that taxation is best left in the hands of the public, or the people,” stated State Senator Bo Watson (R-Chattanooga-D11).