NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — A Nashville homeowner is facing a more than year-long wait to appeal his property assessment after the city valued his unchanged home at nearly 80% more than it was worth just four years ago.
Gary Hoffman said his home in the Nations neighborhood was valued at about $430,000 in 2021. This year, the Davidson County assessor's office appraised it at $773,400, an increase of almost 80% in four years.
"Metro did not change the value one penny, it stayed at $773,400," Hoffman said.
The home, which Hoffman's father built, hasn't been renovated or changed since 1989. But the neighborhood around it has transformed, with new construction replacing older homes.
What confuses Hoffman most is that the majority of his home's new value is listed under "improvements" on his assessment, despite no changes being made to the property in decades.
"But the big chunk is the house so if the property has not been renovated since 1989 how can they show that much increase," Hoffman said.
The Davidson County assessor's office said it has received an unprecedented number of appeals of more than 5% of all homes appraised.
After his initial appeal was denied, Hoffman is now taking his case to the state level. He said he'll have to continue paying taxes based on the higher assessment until his hearing, which isn't scheduled until September 2026, a year after the appeal was denied.
The lengthy wait has Hoffman considering selling his family's home.
"I don't know where I'm going to be. I might sell the house before. I don't know. I don't know what's going to happen. Well, it's just the fact that the property tax increase is so much," Hoffman said.
The Property Assessor's office noted that the city doesn't make money off increased property values because the city's overall tax rate is adjusted down to compensate.
Have you faced a similar property tax challenge in Nashville? Share your story and watch the full investigation by emailing kim.rafferty@NewsChannel5.com. Your experience could help other homeowners navigate this complex process.
In this article, we used artificial intelligence to help us convert a video news report originally written by Kim Rafferty. When using this tool, both Kim and the NewsChannel 5 editorial team verified all the facts in the article to make sure it is fair and accurate before we published it. We care about your trust in us and where you get your news, and using this tool allows us to convert our news coverage into different formats so we can quickly reach you where you like to consume information. It also lets our journalists spend more time looking into your story ideas, listening to you and digging into the stories that matter.
This is a story I immediately went home and showed my boys - young athletes with big dreams. The Vanderbilt football team's success has stolen the spotlight - what I love about Steve Layman's story is he reveals the individual hardships it took to get there. As Clark Lea says, "we all have scuff marks." This team proves perseverance pays off!
- Carrie Sharp
