Americans for Prosperity – Tennessee (AFP-TN) celebrated the Tennessee Senate on Thursday for its passage of House Joint Resolution 81 by a 26-6 vote.
House Joint Resolution 81 would prohibit the Tennessee General Assembly from levying, authorizing, or otherwise permitting a state tax on property if enacted.
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A Tennessee bill would cap property tax increases in the state at 2 percent plus inflation each year and 6 percent plus inflation over a three-year span.
A higher percentage increase in property tax rates would require a referendum.
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The Ohio House of Representatives passed a bill this week focused on providing property tax relief to Ohioans.
If enacted, the Ohio Homeowners Relief Act would modify the procedures used by the tax commissioner to conduct property tax sales assessment ratio studies. Specifically, the bill would require the commissioner to work alongside local elected officials and weigh the past three years of a county’s property values in order to determine property taxes instead of just one.
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Governor Kim Reynolds says her administration has successfully implemented a state government re-alignment plan, reducing the number of cabinet-level departments from 37 to 16.
Reynolds’ government downsizing plan, Senate File 514, was a defining piece of legislation in a historic session of the Iowa Legislature.
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After a season of spending, the Wisconsin Legislature is finally getting around to talking tax cuts. Perhaps Republicans have saved the best for last.
The Republican-controlled Joint Finance Committee put the finishing touches on a complete rewrite of Democrat Governor Tony Evers’ 2023-25 state budget proposal, passing a tax reform package that promises to deliver $3.5 billion in income tax cuts and nearly $800 million in property tax relief.
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While Democrats insist Pennsylvania misses out on revenue from natural gas extraction, a Pittsburgh nonprofit’s analysis published on Thursday observes drilling impact fees yielded $2.25 billion through 2021.
Since the boom in hydraulic fracturing (or fracking), the horizontal drilling technique gas companies use to access the vast reserves of fossil fuel from the Marcellus Shale sedimentary rock formation, many politicians have eyed an extraction tax. Instead of such a tax, former Governor Tom Corbett (R) and a Republican-led legislature levied an impact fee in 2012, with revenues going to localities largely to mitigate fracking-related environmental disruption. In the new policy brief from the Allegheny Institute (AI), the think tank’s executive director Frank Gamrat detailed those revenue gains.
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Georgia will be the only state among its neighbors to allow local governments to give residential property owners a temporary break on their taxes for storm damage.
Gov. Brian Kemp signed into law last week House Bill 311, which was authored by State Rep. Lynn Smith, R-Newnan. It allows local governments to provide tax relief on property taxes, either through a millage rate reduction (one mill equals $1,000 worth of property value) or a credit once a disaster is declared by the federal government.
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Pennsylvania Josh Shapiro asked the state General Assembly members on Tuesday to support his requested $45.9 billion budget, which would increase spending by approximately 4 percent over current outlays.
The governor insisted he based his plan for Fiscal Year 2023-24 on “conservative” revenue estimates. And he did include some provisions appealing to anti-taxers and free-marketers including nixing the state cell-phone tax, a move he estimates would save Pennsylvanians $124 million annually.
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State. Senator Brad Zaun’s bill that would reinstate the death penalty in Iowa for those who sexually assault and then murder children survived the Legislature’s famous Funnel Week.
Zaun, R-Urbandale, joined The Iowa Star Monday on NewsTalk 1040 WHO to talk about the legislation and other bills moving forward in the Legislature.
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It may be the most money some people ever see from the Wisconsin Lottery.
Lottery managers in the state said the latest lottery tax credit means a $213 tax cut for the average homeowner in the state.
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Ohio senior citizens could save more on their property taxes and that savings could grow if inflation increases under a bill proposed in the Ohio House.
House Bill 207 would raise the state’s homestead exemption by more than $6,000 for elderly or disabled homeowners, tie the exemption to any increase in inflation and increase the income threshold for the exemption, all moves necessary to keep seniors in their homes, according to Rep. Daniel Troy, D-Willowick.
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The 2004 Tennessee Supreme Court decision in City of Memphis v. Shelby County Election Commission that found the “Commission exceeded its authority by refusing to place Referendum Ordinance No. 5072 on the November 2, 2004, ballot based upon the State Election Coordinator’s opinion that the Ordinance is unconstitutional,” may blow a major hole in Metro Nashville Legal Director Bob Cooper’s argument made to to the Davidson County Election Commission at its September 25 meeting that “the commission’s role here is not purely ministerial,” and that a 2004 Tennessee Supreme Court decision “said that the commission can consider the form of a referendum petition and suggested that it could review the petition’s facial or procedural legality.”
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Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey gave his preliminary 2021 budget address Friday, in which he suggested how the city could improve its finances after restrictions put in place to slow the COVID-19 pandemic battered tax revenue.
Fifty-five percent of the city’s ongoing general fund revenue is gathered from sources other than property taxes, Frey said, sources he added that are projected to drop next year by $32.5 million.
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The Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce wants Davidson County residents’ property taxes to be hiked 32 percent.
The chamber is urging the Metro Council to vote for Mayor John Cooper’s budget that includes a 32 percent property tax increase, the Nashville Business Journal reported.
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Hamilton County commissioners will reportedly ask voters to decide on a $60 wheel tax to fund public schools.
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On Friday’s Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy and special guest Ben Cunnigham – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 am to 8:00 am – Leahy and Cunningham talked about Cunningham’s recent Tweets stating that he would hold John Cooper accountable to his implied commitments to the reallocation of Davidson County funds and not raising property taxes.
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As soon as elections for Williamson County Commission were over in May 2018 the Commission gave the local Chamber of Commerce an additional annual $100K to promote more growth. The $1.5 million of county taxpayers’ money the Chamber has received over the last 5 years is clearly not an investment that is working out well for taxpayers. In another expected post-election move the Commission raised county property by a modest 3.3%, the second increase in 3 years. This increase barely makes a dent in the liabilities the county has accumulated and will most assuredly be followed shortly by additional property tax increases.
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A split Hamilton County Commission voted 5-4 Wednesday against a 34-cent increase on property taxes for the school system, and one school board member reacted by saying his dog was disappointed in the outcome. Voting against were Greg Martin, Randy Fairbanks, Chester Bankston, Tim Boyd and Sabrena Smedley (pictured above), according to a story by The Chattanoogan. In favor were Chip Baker, Katherlyn Geter, Warren Mackey and David Sharpe. County Attorney Rheubin Taylor said the rejection means none of the budget will be approved until the schools come back with a new budget leaving out the requested $34 million in new funds, The Chattanoogan said. That will happen after the Hamilton County Department of Education meets again. The county commission has until Aug. 31 to approve the overall budget, according to a story by the Chattanooga Times Free Press. County Mayor Jim Coppinger’s proposed $819 million budget included $443 million for the school district’s general purpose budget, a 5 percent raise for teachers, plus the addition of 14 counselors, 15 social workers, 15 truancy officers, 11 art teachers, 10 special education teachers and 32 special education assistants, the newspaper said. News Channel 9 said teachers were disappointed. Teachers filed…
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As budgets for the operation of Sumner County government and schools are set to be approved by the Board of County Commissioners at the regularly scheduled monthly meeting on Monday, June 17, the proposed spending plan will require an increase in the property tax rate. While the amount of the property tax increase has not yet been established, it is clear through discussions by several of the County Commissioners as well as the County Finance Director that an increase is imminent. A property tax increase would be the second for Sumner County in less than five years, with the last set into place in November of 2014. Both times, the property tax increases coincided with a property reappraisal which happens every five years in Sumner County. All of Tennessee’s 95 counties are on a four-, five-, or six-year reappraisal cycle. Upon the completion of the appraisal of all properties in a county, no matter the length of the reappraisal cycle, the county’s Assessor of Property determines and certifies a property tax rate that provides the same revenue for the County as was levied during the previous year. This is otherwise known as a certified tax rate (CTR) or revenue-neutral…
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Surprise! Nashville is growing skyscrapers and other developments at an ever-increasing rate yet faces a $34 million revenue shortfall. Councilman-at-large John Cooper, who is on Metro’s Budget and Finance Committee says Nashville’s revenue continues to grow faster than most cities, to the tune of a couple billion dollars, NewsChannel 5 reports. At the same time, Metro can’t fully fund schools or provide promised pay raises to employees, and some are calling for a property tax hike. Nashville has been glutted with massive capital projects despite some narrow misses. Most of the new money has gone to debt service to pay for pretty and shiny projects like the Sounds baseball stadium and the convention center, plus more conventional needs like school improvements. Borrowing costs have increased about $100 million in the last five years. Former Mayor Megan Barry’s resignation earlier this year following a sex and ethics scandal was followed by the failure of the $9 billion transit plan, the Nashville Scene reports. Then there was Barry’s quickly abandoned plan to end inpatient care at Metro General Hospital, the same week that the Metro Council approved a $275 million soccer stadium plan; the proposed Cloud Hill development, a sweetheart deal for…
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Nashville property owners may be carrying lighter wallets soon as some members of the council want to raise property tax rates by 50 cents. Councilman Bob Mendes has proposed the tax hike as a way to pay for government employee cost-of-living raises and for schools and make up a budget shortfall, NewsChannel 5 reports. He wants the bill to come forward next week and pass before the Memorial Day weekend. Councilwoman Sharon Hurt and Councilman Bill Pridemore have backed Mendes’ plan, The Tennessean reports. The plan would raise the combined property tax rate in the Urban Services District from $3.155 to $3.655 per $100 of assessed value, a 15.9-percent hike, and the General Services rate by 49 cents from $2.755 to $3.245. A home appraised at $250,000 in the Urban Services District would pay about $319 more per year in property taxes. Mendes’ justification is that last year Metro lowered the rate to a low of $3.15 following a reassessment, NewsChannel 5 said, and added Nashvillians would want to honor the city’s obligations. The council has made budget mistakes that have lead to the problem and will study across-the-board budget cuts next year. The budget must be approved before July 1. Mayor…
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Small business owners in Tennessee are paying the price — literally — for large corporations raking in tax breaks. “What we keep seeing is that small business owners are taking on the burden of higher taxes for governments to give their tax dollars to big businesses,” said Mark Cunningham, a spokesman for the Beacon Center of Tennessee, a nonpartisan think tank. Nashville has waived property taxes or given grant money for many new downtown hotels, Cunningham said. Those funds must be replaced from somewhere, and somewhere often means small businesses. With Nashville and Memphis competing with other cities for the new Amazon headquarters, whoever lands the deal will pay out the “biggest corporate welfare deal” for 50,000 jobs, Cunningham said. “It’s a terrible deal.” In effect, he said, Tennessee has two tax codes: one for big businesses and one for small businesses. The Beacon Center of Tennessee would prefer everyone pay lower taxes. The piling on of multiple taxes from different government bodies year after year takes a toll, some small business owners say. Small business owner Kasey Parsons ignited a firestorm when she posted to Facebook the city and county property tax bills for only one of her several…
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By David Tulis / Noogaradio 1240 AM 92.7 FM A bill sliding through the Tennessee General Assembly offers unexpected aid to Thomas and Carol Gaddy, the homeowners from Sequatchie County who are in hiding while a judge demands permission for Dunlap city officials to search their house. The bill by Sen. Frank Niceley would have the secretary of state determine if a property has been annexed into a municipality if a property owner asks for proof. SB 338 would allow Mrs. Gaddy to pursue one of her arguments in a property rights case has turned her into a fugitive. She and Mr. Gaddy face arrest because they are under a civil contempt order in the court of Chancery Judge Thomas Graham. Because they have not consented to a search of their property, absent a finding of probable cause, Judge Graham issued a bench warrant in March for their arrest and intends to keep them in jail until they allow what the city terms an inspection. Mrs. Gaddy has sued Judge Graham for abuse of office. In an interview she says it is unethical for him to maintain any action against her because he is an interested and biased party.…
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