A decade after Tennessee voters first authorized local governments to freeze property taxes for low- and moderate-income seniors, the city of Chattanooga may soon adopt such a freeze to help elderly homeowners on fixed incomes cope with rising property values and taxes.
Chattanooga City Councilman Ken Smith said the city needs to freeze its property taxes for senior citizens living on modest incomes to help them stay in their homes as costs rise and their incomes are often fixed.
“We just went through the latest round of reappraisals, and I think a lot of people had their assessments increase more than they expected, so that has really brought this issue to the forefront,” Smith said Wednesday during a roundtable discussion with seniors about the city implementing a tax freeze for many senior homeowners. “I’m willing to introduce such a freeze, and I hope a majority of the council will support it.”
Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke, who plans to unveil to the council on Tuesday his budget recommendations that will likely mean a tax increase for most property owners, said he is studying the idea of the property tax freeze for seniors. Berke voiced support for the concept of protecting senior homeowners on fixed incomes struggling to cope with rising prices.
“Our goal is to tear down the barriers that stop people from living the life that they want in our city,” Berke told a group of senior citizens during a roundtable discussion Wednesday about whether the city should adopt a property tax freeze for eligible seniors. “The costs for the city and for consumers continues to go up, and we recognize that many seniors face the double-barreled problem of rising prices without rising income. The point of a senior citizen tax freeze is to try to counteract the impact of rising prices for those on fixed incomes.”