Local control on senior tax relief

Commercial Appeal
January 15, 2007

If Tennessee lawmakers aren't careful, they run the risk of messing up a good thing.

The good thing being a constitutional amendment, approved overwhelmingly by the voters last November, which allows property tax relief for senior citizens.

The amendment, which carried more than 80 percent of the statewide vote, allows the General Assembly to set up a legal framework under which city and county governments could freeze property taxes for homeowners ages 65 and older.

Legislators are expected to discuss that legal framework during this year's session. While they're doing so, they may set some limits on the amount and type of income seniors could earn and still qualify for tax freezes.

A healthy dose of caution is needed as the lawmakers proceed.

The spirit behind the constitutional amendment was to give local governments the option, not a mandate, to provide tax relief.

Some cash-strapped communities might decide they can't afford to shield even the poorest seniors from annual increases in tax bills, as much as they might like to. In contrast, some prosperous communities might decide they can still make ends meet even if relatively wealthy seniors keep paying the same amount of taxes every year.

A Memphis City Council committee is scheduled to discuss a resolution Tuesday that would urge legislators to give local governments freedom to establish their own income guidelines.

"We're asking the state not to tie our hands too much," said Councilman Dedrick Brittenum, the resolution's sponsor. "We want as much flexibility as possible within the state's (income) limits."

Last month, the Shelby County Commission unanimously passed a similar resolution.

It's a reasonable request by the local governments -- and one that state lawmakers should honor.

State Sen. Mark Norris, R-Collierville, hopes the legislature's role in setting parameters will be minimal. Norris, who sponsored the constitutional amendment, wants to simply set an upper limit on income eligibility.

Local governments could choose to adopt that limit for their tax freeze programs, or any income level below it.

As Norris points out, if lawmakers in Nashville create too many other restrictions, then local governments here and elsewhere across Tennessee may choose not to offer tax freezes for any seniors.

And that would hurt the very people the constitutional amendment was designed to help.