by James Coleman —
Shelby County property owners potentially have escaped a property tax hike after county commissioners Monday (July 21) reversed a one-cent hike that had been approved on June 7.
The certified tax rate for the fiscal year that starts July 1 and ends June 30, 2022 will remain at $3.45 per $100 assessed value.
If nothing changes, the commission’s action and the Memphis City Council’s decision June 15 not to the raise the city’s property tax is good news for homeowners.
State law mandates that the rate be set by July 1 or soon thereafter, if practical.
Nevertheless, the county’s tax issue isn’t quite settled. There is possible wiggle room in the language that leaves the door open to a possible increase.
The “wiggle room” involves different interpretations on when the budget has to be finally approved.
The state would have a problem with the commission reopening its budget deliberations after the start of the new fiscal year, Tennessee Comptroller Jason Mumpower said.
Commissioner Van Turner Jr., a lawyer, interpreted deadline for final approval as being any time before the first Monday in October.Turner was the only “no” vote on passing the tax rate.
Turner said he would begin the process of moving through three new readings of the $3.46 tax rate with the one-cent increase at the next commission meeting July 26. He expects three commissioners, who were absent Monday and who had earlier voted for the penny increase, to be present.
Reappraisal resulted in property values rising some 20 percent. The $3.45 rate is the amount the state determines that would produce the same amount of revenue for county government as the revenue collected with the current rate of $4.05.
