Older homeowners would get some relief

Property taxes would be frozen even as values rose

By LEE ANN O'NEAL, Tennessean.com
October 15, 2006

PROPOSED CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT ON TAXES

Older homeowners could be exempted from rising property taxes if a proposed statewide ballot measure passes into law.

If voters approve the measure in November, local counties and cities could then decide whether to implement the program and absorb its cost in lost property taxes.

The property taxes for low-income homeowners 65 years or older would be frozen even as their home values or their local tax rates increased.

Metro Trustee Charlie Cardwell, who last year advocated for an elderly tax relief program that Nashville voters turned down, said such tax relief is needed.

"I've had people to tell me that either they would have to sell their homes, go into something smaller or move into another county," Cardwell said, adding that sometimes factors in addition to tax bills drive those decisions.

But policy researcher Drew Johnson said the tax relief amendment doesn't go far enough. He would favor a measure that extended a benefit beyond seniors, prohibiting property tax increases until homeownership changes.

"That means that if a family bought a house in an area that happens to experience a boom years later, they won't be forced to move just because their home was reappraised. Tax relief should be for everyone," said Johnson, president of the Tennessee Center for Policy Research, a free-market think tank.

Income guidelines are not set out in the ballot amendment and would have to be passed later by the legislature.

Sen. Mark Norris, R-Collierville, a sponsor of the tax-relief measure, said he would propose such guidelines when the legislature reconvenes. Norris said the guidelines should be fixed in legislation instead of written into the state constitution so they can be changed easily later.

Local governments would absorb the cost if they implemented the program, shifting some tax burden to property owners who don't qualify for relief.

If the qualified owners' home was sold to a person not meeting the tax-relief guidelines, the new owner would then pay the full amount of taxes, Cardwell said.

The constitutional amendment would also require qualified seniors who make major home improvements to pay the full taxes owed on those improvements, Norris said.

Tennessee's population 65 and older is expected to more than double from 1995 to 2025, going from 658,000 to 1.355 million, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Because of an error, the ballot language that will appear on the electronic voting machines is incomplete, The Associated Press reported. A state election official said the complete language will be published in the state's six largest newspapers and on posters at polling sites.

Mark Norris Official Web Site

Mark Norris Personal Web Site

Tennesse Senate Republican Caucus

Senator Mark Norris
303 War Memorial Building,
Nashville, Tennessee 37243-0232
Phone 615-741-1967
1-800-449-8366

Email: Sen. Mark Norris