Maury Co. Commission requests legislature to amend County Powers Relief Act

The Maury County Commission is requesting support from the state to ensure greater financial revenue attached to continued rapid population growth.

The commission approved unanimously last week a resolution for state leaders to amend the state's County Powers Relief Act of 2006, which provides adequate facility taxes to communities experiencing rapid growth. With growth comes the increasing need for enhance infrastructure and services like utility services and new schools.

The commission is seeking alternative ways to create revenue to avoid increasing county property taxes to pay for the extra people and services new development brings.

The current Act forbids county government from enacting an impact fee on new developments, though it is not restricted from individual municipalities. The commission's request is that state leaders amend the current law to allow the county the same opportunity.

"Property taxes have been increased more recently in our high-growth counties, happened in Sumner, here, and it's happened in Williamson and Rutherford County," James Dunn, lobbyist in the Tennessee General Assembly, said. "In the future, if you do not wish to increase property taxes and want to protect our existing Maury Countians from any further increase, we've got to figure out how to pay for this growth."

According to the 2020 Census, Maury County is the fastest growing county in Tennessee, while Rutherford ranks among one of the most populated counties.

Dunn added that the deadline to file bills in the State House is Jan. 31 and Feb. 2 in the Senate, which on average can be up to 4,000 bills annually.

Maury County's adequate facilities taxes on new development currently caps off at 50 cents per square foot for residential construction and 30 cents per square foot for commercial property, an amount the commission calls "woefully inadequate" in meeting the demands for additional services the County has experienced. By opting into the County Powers Relief Act, the adequate facilities tax would be forfeited, as the law currently states.

"We've got a bill that would allow you to retain your ability to tax non-residential development that is already in place," Dunn said. "That's future buildouts so we don't put the burden on existing Maury County taxpayers."

The Maury County commission is asking the legislative delegation to support any bills presented to repeal or amend the County Powers Relief Act to allow Maury County "to be placed on a level playing field" with municipalities to have the authority to collect impact fees on new development.

Rep. Scott Cepicky, R-Culleoka, said there are a lot of options currently being discussed at the state level to provide funding assistance for rapidly growing counties, and that while this request could provide relief, it's going to take multiple solutions to make a lasting impact.

"I think it would be disingenuous for anybody to say this whole thing is going to solve the growth problems," Cepicky said. "There is no silver bullet for this, but there are tools we can put in the toolbox to lessen the impact of growth. There is a lot of stuff going on right now."

Commissioner Ray Jeter commented saying this is the third attempt at amending the Act, and he hopes this request would act as the start of a "long-term relationship" with state lobbyists fighting on behalf of the local taxpayers, and that this would make a "big difference" to the nearly 100,000 Maury County citizens.

"We definitely need somebody who can fight those battles for us in the trenches," Jeter said. "This commission is a fighting commission, and we'll load up every one of us and go to Nashville to fight in the trenches with you when that times come. We just ask that we be kept in the loop on when those opportunities might be, even if that means four or five times loading up to Nashville. We'll be there."

Commissioner Gabe Howard added that utilizing the help of lobbyists in a growing county is important because the legislation isn't necessarily tied to one partisanship, but is intended for everybody.

"It's legislation that matters for growing communities like ours," Howard said.

Jay Powell is a general reporter for The Daily Herald. Get up-to-date news in your inbox by subscribing to The Daily Herald newsletter at www.ColumbiaDailyHerald.com.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Herald: Maury Commission seeks to amend County Powers Relief Act