Cookeville Vice-Mayor Luke Eldridge said residents unhappy about property tax increases should pressure legislators to change the sales tax rules on higher-priced items.
Eldridge said Tennessee’s Single Article Cap Tax puts a 2.75 percent limit on the sales tax that can be collected by the city on singular items between $1,600- $3,200. Tennessee increased the sales tax rate from six percent to seven percent in 2002. Eldridge said the one percent increase has been going back to the state and not the city.
“We have money close to $1.2 million in two different things that we are talking about, a local share and then the article cap, and we got two different things that are generating a lot of money that is going to Nashville that should stay here,” Eldridge said. “And if we don’t want to see taxes continued to be increased we need to see about getting that money back.”
Eldridge said he believes it is the city’s money since the city generates the sales tax revenue. Eldridge said the city has had conversations with state officials on the topic over the past several years, but the conversations have not resulted in any progress.
“We’ve sent letters and we’ve talked to our representatives,” Eldridge said. “We’re always told it’s never put in Governor Lee’s budget to make the change or do whatever, and we’ll do this again. So this is not something we are just one and done with.”
Eldridge said Senator Paul Bailey and State Representative Ryan Williams have been making efforts alongside Cookeville. Eldridge said a change could benefit every city in Tennessee.
“Everybody across the state, not only here in the Upper Cumberland and Putnam County, but everybody, to reach out to your representative and say ‘ Hey, that’s a lot of money going back to the state that’s ours and it can really help our communities out’,” Eldridge said. “It really would help us out and keep our taxes low. We got a low tax rate anyway, but this could really keep us where we don’t have to look at raising them.”
