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Committee advances bill to let counties raise mineral severance tax for roads
Summary
House Bill 6-95 would raise the statutory cap on county mineral severance taxes (sand, gravel, chert, limestone) from 15¢ per ton to a phased 30¢ per ton by 2035, subject to county approval by two-thirds vote; the committee advanced the bill.
The State and Local Government Committee approved House Bill 6-95, which would increase the maximum per-ton mineral severance tax counties may levy for road funding.
Sponsor Chairman Crawford said Tennessee currently caps the county mineral severance tax at 15¢ per ton, a rate set in 1985. The bill would raise the cap to 20¢ per ton immediately, to 25¢ per ton by July 1, 2025, to 25¢ per ton by July 1, 2030, and to 30¢ per ton by July 1, 2035, with any county rate change requiring a two-thirds local legislative vote. "This bill would raise that maximum in Tennessee code from 15¢ per ton to 20¢ per ton and by July the first of 2025 to 25¢ per ton by July the first of 2030 and to 30¢ per ton by July the first of 2035," the sponsor said.
Crawford said the measure is the result of an agreement among the Tennessee County Highway Officials Association, the Tennessee Road Builders Association and the aggregate industry. Committee members had no substantive questions before voting; the bill advanced on an 18–1 vote to Finance, Ways and Means.
If enacted and adopted locally, the increased cap would give counties an option to collect more revenue from extractive operations to pay for roads, though counties would need to take the local two-thirds vote to raise rates.
