If the city of Chattanooga and the other nine municipalities in Hamilton County learned a state law was on the books that required they be paid tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars every four years, they would surely want that money if they knew it was deserved.
But a 27-year-old Tennessee law is on the books that says Chattanooga and the other municipalities owe money for quadrennial appraisals of every property in the county, money they’ve never paid before, and they’re not too happy about it.
New Hamilton County Assessor of Property Marty Haynes learned of the law, which also allows counties to forgo the cities’ share, when he took state training courses for his job. Last week, he informed municipalities’ mayors what they owed for their portion of the 2017 reappraisal that will cost the county $2.28 million.
All counties do not bill their municipalities, but the practice to do so “is the norm rather than the exception,” according to Tennessee Division of Property Assessments spokesman John Dunn.
Shelby County bills its municipalities. Nashville/Davidson, which has a metro government, does not. Nearby Bradley County also bills its two cities, Cleveland and Charleston.