A new state law originating from the Metropolitan Trustee’s Office will make it easier for some of Tennessee’s oldest homeowners to continue receiving property tax relief benefits.
For years, participants in Tennessee’s Tax Relief program have been required to report their income annually to maintain eligibility. While intended to ensure compliance with program guidelines, the process has often created challenges for older adults, particularly those living on fixed incomes whose financial situations rarely change.
Metropolitan Trustee Erica S. Gilmore said the new legislation is designed to remove unnecessary barriers for elderly homeowners while helping them remain in their homes.
“Some of our seniors will hold onto their annual recertification voucher waiting to ask a loved one to help them find their income documentation and then end up never turning it in,” Gilmore said. “Losing that relief is just devastating. For home owners making less than $38,000 a year, that extra $1,500 in Tax Relief assistance can be the difference between remaining in their home and being pushed out of Nashville.”
Gilmore said she is proud that legislation developed by her administration has now been approved by the Tennessee General Assembly, simplifying the process for older Tax Relief recipients across all 95 counties.
Senate Bill 1326 and House Bill 1380 eliminate the annual income-reporting requirement for Tax Relief recipients who are age 80 or older and have participated in the program for at least five consecutive years. Beginning this fall, eligible home owners will only be required to sign and return their annual voucher certifying that they still own and occupy the property as their primary residence.
The legislation was drafted by Eugene S. Hampton II, the Trustee Office’s director of finance, through the University of Tennessee Certified Public Manager Program.
“Watching the stress that our older residents go through every year with the self-reporting income process made me start looking at ways we could make this easier for them,” Hampton said. “We have 95-year-olds driving through downtown traffic to our office so we can help them complete paperwork, even though their retirement income hasn’t changed in decades. We also receive calls every year from residents asking what income they reported previously because they know nothing has changed. This new law will make the recertification process much simpler for many older adults.”
The measure received bipartisan support in both the Tennessee House and Senate.
The Trustee’s Office thanked Sen. Sara Kyle and Rep. Torrey Harris for sponsoring the legislation, along with the Tennessee County Trustees Association, the County Officials Association of Tennessee, the Tennessee Comptroller’s Office and others who supported its unanimous passage.
Re-certification vouchers for Davidson County Tax Relief and Tax Freeze participants will be mailed this fall. Homeowners must sign and return their forms to the Trustee’s Office by April 5, 2027.
