Tennesseans still on hook for state property taxes despite devastation from Hurricane Helene — at least for now

Tennesseans still reeling from the effects of Hurricane Helene will have to pay state property taxes unless lawmakers move to provide some relief.

State residents and their political leaders have been discussing the issue of property taxes for months, ever since Hurricane Helene devastated the region back in late September.

A few weeks after the storm, the IRS stepped in and postponed the deadline for filing or paying certain taxes until May 1, 2025, at least for beleaguered property and/or business owners in Carter, Claiborne, Cocke, Grainger, Greene, Hamblen, Hancock, Hawkins, Jefferson, Johnson, Sevier, Sullivan, Unicoi, and Washington Counties.

"Penalties on payroll and excise tax deposits due on or after Sept. 26, 2024, and before Oct. 11, 2024, will be abated as long as the tax deposits are made by Oct. 11, 2024," said the IRS press release issued November 7.

Leaders in Nashville have yet to officially adjust, suspend, or extend deadlines for property taxes at the state level, though at least one bill is in the works.

Republican state Rep. Tim Hicks has backed a measure that would provide tremendous relief for affected residents. If the measure becomes law, "any home or any family that was affected by the flood will be exempt from paying property taxes for the year 2024, and they won't get taxed again for those property taxes until their property is made whole again," Hicks explained, according to WCYB.

The same tax exemptions would go into effect in the case of future disasters as well.

"I would think that all legislators across the state will be on board with that," Hicks said.

'It would mean a heck of a lot. A heck of a lot.'

Hicks told WCYB that legislators, already scheduled to meet next month, intend to call a special session to vote on that and other Helene-related bills before the deadline for filing property taxes comes along in February.

"We’re trying to get all the relief efforts up here that we can."

For months, state officials have expressed concerns about the plight of storm victims in Tennessee. Back in November, Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury Jason Mumpower told WJHL that "the legislature and Gov. [Bill] Lee have a strong desire to help the property owners affected."

However, just what that "help" should look like has not yet been determined.

Some officials noted, for example, that the affected properties — most of which are located in Northeastern Tennessee — enjoyed normal value for about three-quarters of 2024 and that some owners have already paid their taxes in full. Thus, tax relief may come in the form of proration or retrospectively awarded grants, among other possibilities.

"The key to helping them is knowing exactly how much damage has occurred, what the extent of the damage [is] people have suffered to their homes, to their businesses. So we have been working with assessors since the storm occurred," Mumpower said.

"We want to be sure by the time the legislature returns in January that they have a firm understanding of the dollar amount, of the extent of the damage people have suffered so that they can provide the best assistance," he added.

For residents like David Harris and his wife, who have been living in a camper on their property in the Nolichucky River Valley between Knoxville and Winston-Salem ever since Helene wiped out their home, that relief can't come soon enough.

"It means a lot because when you lose everything, you got to replace stuff," David Harris told WCYB, "and we're retired with not such a great salary. It would mean a heck of a lot. A heck of a lot."

"We don't want to think about property taxes right now."

H/T: Matt Van Swol

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