Lawmakers will consider providing $5 million in grants to East Tennesseans who sustained property damage from Hurricane Helene to ensure they can pay their county taxes – plus 30% more.
With a Feb. 28 deadline for property taxes, landowners will be able to use the money to pay taxes on damaged property for 2024, said Rep. Jeremy Faison, a Cosby Republican.
Faison and Republican Sen. Rusty Crowe of Johnson City are sponsoring the bill as a special session of the legislature convenes Jan. 27. It is expected to be one of several flood relief initiatives, since the governor proposed spending $450 million to provide relief to the region.
Under their plan, someone with a $1,000 local property tax bill would receive $1,300, Faison said, though he wasn’t certain how the extra money would affect their federal income taxes.
“They still have a tax bill due even if they don’t have a house anymore,” said Faison, who chairs the House Republican Caucus.