Tennessee voters have decided they no longer want the state to issue property taxes.
On Tuesday night, state residents showed widespread support for Amendment 2, which prevents the Tennessee state government from creating a property tax.
According to unofficial election results from the Tennessee Secretary of State’s Office, 67 percent of Tennesseans backed the constitutional amendment. Ninety-four of Tennessee’s 95 counties have been counted.
The amendment will not allow the Legislature to issue a property tax without amending the state Constitution again. To do this, the Legislature would need a two-thirds majority, and voters would need a majority.
It does not stop local governments from issuing property taxes.
Numerous Tennessee Republicans have supported the bill, including Marsha Blackburn, House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville), and Brent Taylor.
Organizations such as Americans for Prosperity – Tennessee, Americans for Tax Reform, Beacon Center of Tennessee, and Tennessee REALTORS also supported Amendment 2.
Blackburn said the amendment would “ensure that future generations don’t have to worry about the threat of a statewide property tax.”
“Let’s keep Tennessee one of the lowest taxed states in the nation and make our state America’s conservative leader!” she added.
Opponents of the bill included State Senator Heidi Campbell (D-Nashville), who said in 2024 Tennessee did not need this amendment because the state had not “taxed property for decades,” according to Fox 17.
“If we pass this and somebody decides that this is legally applicable to that then we could lose millions in revenue and every time we do something like that it also threatens our bond rating,” Campbell explained.
Supporters of the amendment have raised $109,000, while opponents have raised nothing, according to Ballotpedia.
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Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of The Star News Network. Email tips to Zachery at [email protected].
Photo “Tennessee Capitol” by Andre Porter. CC BY-SA 3.0.
