A Flash From the Past – 1978 Property Tax $3.99

Jefferson County is facing the question of answering a multi million dollar deficit and will address the issue this week, as the Jefferson County Commission meets for their regular voting session. At the center of debate is the property tax rate in Jefferson County. Currently, the property tax rate sits at $2.35 and is near the middle in terms of property tax rates across the State of Tennessee. According to information provided by the Tennessee Comptroller’s Office, 44 of 95 counties in Tennessee have a lower property tax rate than Jefferson County. It is important to note that some counties, with both higher and lower county property tax rates, have much higher city tax rates.

Some debate regarding the current County debt has centered around the recent building program. Though the current building program is extensive, it is not the first building program that Jefferson County has undertaken in the last 40 years. Records show that Jefferson County property tax reached a high of $3.99 in 1978 and 1979, after posting at $3.76 in 1976 and $3.73 in 1977, in answer to additional debt that was incurred in the creation and building of the consolidated Jefferson County High School. Records before 1976 were not included in the information gathered for this article. However records from 1976 to present show a four year period following the construction of Jefferson County High School had the highest property tax rates in last 40 years. While property assessment figures were clearly lower in the mid 70s, so was the average salary which was between $5,000 and $6,000 per year.

From 1980 to 1985 Jefferson County property tax dropped to $1.83 in 1980 to $1.96 in 1984 before it began to climb. For the next fourteen years, 1986-1999, the property tax only twice fell below the current $2.35 rate ( 1989 and 1996) reaching $2.76 in 1995 before briefly dropping and rising again. With the millennium, Jefferson County property taxes dropped to below the $2.00 mark for the first time since President Reagan’s first term in office. Sixteen of the last 39 years show property tax in Jefferson County exceeding the current $2.35 cent rate. As is the case in the current budget year, the worth of a penny will dictate the base rate before any adjustments by the County Commission, as the fluctuation of the penny must be accounted for in setting the property tax rate and can account for some fluctuations in the property tax rate.