Property-tax relief for elderly inches forward

TENNESSEE
Commercial Appeal
By Richard Locker
April 21, 2004

NASHVILLE - Property-tax relief for the elderly advanced on two tracks in the Tennessee legislature Tuesday, but both measures still have miles to go before passage.

Both pieces of legislation would freeze the property taxes on an elderly household's principal residence at the amount paid in the year the property owner reaches age 65 in one bill or age 70 in the other.

One measure is a state constitutional amendment, proposed by Sen. Mark Norris, R-Collierville, that could not take effect until at least 2007 because it requires voter ratification in a constitutional referendum in 2006.

The other is a bill sponsored by Sen. Curtis Person, R-Memphis, and Rep. Larry Miller, D-Memphis, which would not take as long to enact but would apply only in Shelby County.

Both won committee votes Tuesday.

The Person-Miller bill is a plan limited to Shelby County in which applicants who are at least age 70 would be eligible for a property-tax freeze if they qualify one of two ways: first, if their combined household income is less than $25,000 a year, or second, if they have owned and paid property taxes on their primary residence in Tennessee for at least 20 of the last 30 years, regardless of their income.
The bill requires approval only by the General Assembly, and it advanced in both the Senate Finance Committee and a House subcommittee on Tuesday.

Norris's constitutional amendment proposal would allow the legislature to set up a tax freeze program for property owners who reach age 65, with income ceilings to be set and altered by the legislature. The program would be optional for cities and counties; taxpayers could participate only if their city council or county commission voted to participate.
Norris's resolution also won approval in the Finance Committee Tuesday, but the constitutional process is long and difficult. If it wins majority votes in the Senate and House this year, it must return for two-thirds majorities in either 2005 or 2006 before it can go on the 2006 general election ballot.

" I've got heart-wrenching letters from senior citizens," Norris said. "Folks on fixed incomes should not have to choose between paying for prescription drugs or property taxes."

The Shelby County Commission approved a resolution in support of the plans last week, but with the provision that cities and counties can set income eligibility levels as long as they don't exceed the maximums set by the state.

County Mayor A C Wharton said Tuesday that he supports efforts to freeze property taxes for elderly homeowners but that ultimately, he hopes to negate the need for freezes and abatements through lower property taxes in general.

"We're glad to get any kind of relief. It simply underscores the stark reality that we've got to do something about our property-tax rate generally so we don't have to keep resorting to freezes and abatements."

Wharton said the county needs other tax sources that it can turn to when more revenue is needed, after spending cuts have been exhausted.

"I'm not going to rest until we do something first to level off our property taxes and ultimately reduce them," he said.