Tennessee Taxpayers Association

 Legislation TTA Stopped

         
• Stopped legislation that would have permitted city councils and county commissions to set tax rates in private hearings without input from the public.

• Stopped legislation that would have made property tax records  inaccessible to the public.

• Stopped local legislation that would have permitted the counties to hire “bounty hunter” auditors to audit tangible personal property assessments and be paid a percentage of the increase in taxes they obtained.

• Stopped legislation that would force hearings at State Board of Equalization to be heard on a judicial review basis.  This would have required court reporters and attorneys at the hearings to make adequate records for presentation to the courts for review.  The courts would be limited to only reviewing those records and no new evidence could be admitted.

• Stopped legislation that would have deleted the taxpayers’ right to attack assessments at the State Board of Equalization as being void and illegal.  The legislation would have forced the taxpayers to go to court.  However, the taxpayers would actually have no place to go because of the difficulty associated with getting into the courts on tax issues.   First, the taxes must be paid under protest which no taxpayer really ever does when paying taxes.   After that date, there is only six months to file the suit.  Therefore, if the taxpayer finds out a year later that the taxes were illegally assessed, there is nothing the taxpayer can do.

• Stopped legislation which would charge taxpayers for expensive hearings costs in tax appeals that were settled.

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