MILLERSVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Lawmakers are debating a bill that would limit how much cities can raise property taxes, a move that could have consequences for smaller towns experiencing growth and higher demands on city services.
Millersville Commissioner Jesse Powel said the proposed property tax capping bill would limit increases.
"And then of course we have the property tax capping bill at 2% and then 6% over three years," Powel said.
While the cap sounds helpful for homeowners, Powel said it could negatively impact towns like Millersville.
"Primarily because we rely on a lot of property tax revenue," Powel said.
In Millersville, a city of about 7,000 people, property taxes fund essential city services.
"That’s how we fund our infrastructure improvements, pay for stop lights, that’s how we pave roads," Powel said.
Unlike the largest cities in Tennessee, Millersville does not have an abundance of commercial businesses paying taxes.
"We’re not generating a ton of business taxes," Powel said.
Powel said places like Millersville only have a few ways to bring in more revenue, which include raising taxes, attracting business or growing city boundaries.
"If we don’t have some of those options, then we’re really left with raising property taxes… that is one of the only levers that we have," Powel said.
Millersville has not increased property taxes in several years. Powel said another bill could bring county involvement into city annexation, impacting how cities grow. The bigger picture is making sure cities can keep up without putting more strain on residents.
"We have a lot of fixed income seniors that live here," Powel said.
What do you think about the proposed property tax caps and how they might affect Millersville's growth and services? Watch the full video report above to hear more from local leaders, and share your thoughts with me at kim.rafferty@NewsChannel5.com.
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.
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