Trustee proposes dropping personal-property tax notices under $20 to save collection costs

Hamilton County Trustee Bill Highlander told commissioners he plans to ask the Tennessee legislature to permit Hamilton County to stop mailing personal-property tax bills that are $20 or less.

Highlander said the county currently issues roughly 18,000 personal-property tax bills annually; "4,400 of those bills are less than $20, and 1,200 of those bills that we send out, if they pay it, are less than $5," he told the commission. He said the county spends more collecting tiny amounts than it recovers and asked commissioners to indicate whether they would support a state bill allowing the county to drop those low-value notices.

Commissioners asked for fiscal detail. Commissioner Helton and Commissioner Graham asked about the county's collection cost per bill and the net fiscal impact. Highlander said the total uncollected amount for those small bills would be roughly $37,000 if everyone paid; county staff estimated collection costs could exceed the potential recovery, with a rough figure mentioned by a staff member that the county was spending about $50,000 to pursue small balances.

Commissioner Sharp and others said the proposal seemed reasonable given staff time and postage costs; Commissioner Sharp also noted the county obtained the $20 recommendation from the county Clerk and Trustee Services (CTS) group. Highlander said if the state approves the change he would return to the commission for final local approval.

At this meeting the commission did not take a formal vote on the proposal; Highlander said he will seek state authorization and then bring the proposal back to the commission for local action.