Senior property tax amendment in doubt

By Ashley Rowland
Staff Writer, Chattanooga Times Free Press

October 14, 2006

Louise Burke spends about half of the $1,000 she gets each month from Social Security and a small pension on the mortgage, insurance, taxes and upkeep on her high-ceilinged, single-story house that, like her, is 81 years old.

The rest goes for bills and medicine, though she said there usually isn't enough to pay for everything. Lately, a local church has paid for some of her medications, which cost $550 in September.

Ms. Burke could be helped by a proposed amendment to the Tennessee Constitution.

"Any amount would be helpful to me; it sure would," she said.

If the state's voters approve the amendment in the Nov. 7 election, local governments would be allowed to freeze property tax bills for low-income seniors.

The General Assembly would decide how much seniors can earn to be eligible for the tax freeze, which would require them to pay property taxes but would keep those taxes from rising as the values of their homes increase. Until that income threshold for seniors is set, it's impossible to determine how much the amendment would affect the budgets of cities and counties that decide to offer the tax freeze.

However, there is little if any organized opposition to Amendment 2, whose sponsor, Sen. Mark Norris, R-Collierville, called a "no-brainer." But supporters said they don't know if it will pass.

"I don't think it's a given at all," said Brian McGuire, spokesman for the Tennessee branch of the AARP, which has endorsed the amendment. "We don't think that many people are going to walk into the voting booth knowing nothing about it, read it on the ballot and vote for it."

Rep. Brian Kelsey, R-Memphis, the only legislator who voted against the amendment, said it is too narrow and property taxes should be kept low for all citizens, not just the elderly.

"This amendment simply shifts the burden from the state to the counties, many of which are already burdened with debt," he said.

To become part of the state constitution, a majority of those voting in the gubernatorial election must vote "yes" on the proposed amendment.

Mr. McGuire said he fears people may vote against Amendment 2 simply because they haven't heard of it. The measure has gotten little publicity compared to another proposed amendment that would ban same-sex marriage.

State elections officials mistakenly printed an abbreviated version of the amendment, and they are scrambling to give full notice of it by printing a full version in the state's largest newspapers, posting the text of the amendment at polling sites and placing a smaller copy on each voting machine, according to The Associated Press.

Sen. Norris said he has gotten letters and e-mails from Tennesseans thanking him for sponsoring the proposed amendment.

"The reality is that Tennessee is aging out, and we're seeing a lot of our senior citizens faced with a devil of a choice between paying their property taxes and paying their prescription drugs or their utilities," he said.

Advocates say freezing property taxes would help seniors who are on limited incomes.

"When you start talking about raising taxes in this county, that's who you mainly hear from," said Hamilton County Commissioner Curtis Adams.

Mr. Adams voted against a property tax increase several years ago because, he said, he was afraid it would hurt seniors on fixed incomes.

"There's a lot of them hurting in this county," he said.

He supports the amendment, and he said people who've worked hard all their lives shouldn't have to choose between buying groceries or medicine so they can pay their property taxes.

Now, elderly Hamilton County homeowners whose yearly household is $20,000 or less qualify for a $181 deduction in county property taxes and a $137 deduction in city property taxes under a state tax relief program, according to the county trustee's office.

Many people haven't heard of the proposed amendment, even those who might be helped by it, such as Roberta Darnell, a 73-year-old retiree who said the $1,100 she and her husband get from Social Security each month isn't enough to pay all their bills.

The couple bought their fixer-upper 10 years ago for about $20,000, and they slowly made improvements to the house as they could afford them.

Mrs. Darnell guessed the house is worth $45,000 to $50,000 today. If not for a tax relief program that has trimmed about $200 a year off their property tax bill, the Darnells wouldn't have been able to afford to stay there, she said.

"I know there's other people out there that have it a lot harder than I do because I've met them," she said.