CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – Since 2016, the City of Clarksville and Montgomery County have been at an impasse over who should pay for property tax reappraisals, and how much they should pay. The governments are now working out a deal to resolve the issue.

County Mayor Jim Durrett told county commissioners this week that it was discovered the city had not been paying for its part of the reappraisals, which are done every five years in every county in Tennessee.

City stopped paying years ago

Laurie Matta, chief financial officer for the City of Clarksville, said the city stopped paying for the service in 2016, when she was alerted by the assessor’s office that the law had changed.

“I found out if we followed the state’s formula, we would have paid $750,000 that year (2017),” Matta told Clarksville Now, noting she was notified of this change in law in 2016.

Matta said the way law was worded was that in the absence of any agreement, the city would be responsible for paying half of the costs of the reappraisal.

According to state law, “In the absence of any agreement between the county and the cities thereof imposing a property tax, local costs of reappraisal of property within the City shall be paid one half by the county and one half by the City. Any city paying one half of local costs of reappraisal pursuant to this section shall pay those costs directly to the county government with jurisdiction over the property being reappraised and shall pay those costs during the fiscal year in which the reappraisal is finalized.”

Matta said the key words in that law are “in the absence of any agreement.”

“The city had been paying since 1998,” she said, noting that the amount was an average of $56,650.

When Montgomery County Property Assessor Erinne Hester told Matta that the law had changed, she said the city would have to pay $750,000 that year.

“I told her we can’t afford that,” Matta said.

Working out agreement

Matta said she encouraged the city and county to develop an agreement.

Complicating matters is that unlike most counties in Tennessee with two, three or even eight cities, Montgomery County has only one city: Clarksville.

“Basically, what it is, is the city has not been paying any of the cost. We approached them, the state law says they have to pay half,” County Mayor Jim Durrett told the commission.

Durrett said that after some negotiation, the city and county have come to an agreement where the city has agreed to pay one-fourth of the operating budget of the Assessor’s Office every year.

“It will be a five-year interlocal agreement. The agreement will have language in it in case there is some big capital cost that the Assessor’s Office undergoes like some big technology came through and they want to purchase, and so there (will be formulas) in the interlocal agreement.

“That interlocal agreement is in the City of Clarksville’s hands now. We hope to have it back; it’s not in from (the city) yet,” Durrett said.

Thankful for a resolution

Property Assessor Hester said she appreciates the efforts of the two mayors.

“I really appreciate the affable way Mayor Durrett and Mayor (Joe) Pitts approached this,” she said. “It has been the topic of conversation as long as I have been in the Assessor’s Office. It will be nice to have something everyone can refer to on a local level, and this is the first time there has ever been a finalized cost sharing agreement.”

If the city agrees to the terms, county commissioners will vote on the issue during the next meeting on Monday, Aug. 8.