From the HERE City State Desk
Tennessee voters will decide Nov. 3 whether to write a ban on a state property tax into the state constitution.
Tennessee has not collected a state property tax since 1949, but the General Assembly still has the power to impose one with a simple majority. Amendment 2 would add language to Article II, Section 28 saying the Legislature shall not levy, authorize or otherwise permit any state tax on real, personal or mixed property.
If the measure passes, a state property tax could only be created by amending the constitution again, which requires a two-thirds vote in two legislative sessions and approval by voters. The amendment would not change county or city property taxes, which most local governments in Tennessee levy.
Supporters include Gov. Bill Lee, Tennessee Realtors, the Tennessee Chamber of Commerce, the state chapter of the National Federation of Independent Business and the Tennessee Farm Bureau. They compare it to the 2014 amendment in which voters permanently barred a state income tax. State Sen. Heidi Campbell, a Democrat, has argued the ban belongs in state law rather than the constitution and warned it could have unintended consequences for revenue.
Amendment 2 is one of three proposed amendments on the ballot, alongside measures on bail and crime victims’ rights. To pass, an amendment needs more yes votes than no votes, and its yes votes must top half of all votes cast in the governor’s race.