This November, voters in Goodlettsville, Tennessee, will decide whether to raise their city’s sales tax by half a cent. The tax hike would push the combined sales tax rate above 10% in the Davidson County portion of the city, among the state’s highest, because of the transit surcharge. Residents on both sides of the county line have already absorbed property tax increases in Davidson County in 2020 and 2025 and in Sumner County in 2019, even as the city’s own 2025 audit shows sales tax revenue coming in $440,605 above budget estimates.
Whatever you think of the proposal, don’t miss what is happening. Goodlettsville wants more of its taxpayers’ money, so it has to ask them first. That is how it should work anytime your local government needs more from you. Now ask yourself a simple question: when a local government wants to raise your property taxes, who does it have to ask? The answer is no one but itself. Not you, not your neighbors, not a single voter.
Tennessee law puts guardrails on how local governments tax you. Local sales taxes have a combined cap of 2.75% with a referendum required for any increase. That is why Goodlettsville residents have the final word this fall. Even Davidson County’s transit surcharge, which sits on top of the local cap, required voter approval. Local wheel taxes require two-thirds majorities in consecutive county commission meetings or a public referendum. Citizens can also force a referendum by petition, even after a two-thirds vote.
Property taxes are another story. No state law caps the rate, limits how much it can rise in a year, or limits total revenue a local government can collect. Voters are not required to approve an increase, nor are they given the opportunity. After a reappraisal, Tennessee’s Truth in Taxation Law allows local officials to exceed the new certified tax rate as long as they publish notice and hold a hearing. That’s a speed bump, not a guardrail, which is why Tennessee leads the nation in property tax increases.
Property ownership is one of our most fundamental rights, but property owners have fewer protections than shoppers and drivers. When rates rise without limit, owning your home starts to look a lot more like renting it from the government. The burden falls hardest on the people with the fewest resources, such as young families stretching to buy their first home, retirees on fixed incomes, and small business owners trying to make payroll.
Few issues unite Tennesseans as much as protecting their homes from runaway tax bills. Ninety percent of Tennesseans agree there should be a limit on how much local governments can raise property taxes each year, with voters approving anything above it. Only five percent disagree.
The fix does not require inventing anything new. It means giving property owners protections similar to what Tennessee already gives shoppers and drivers. Cap how much a local government can increase property tax collections in a year (a levy cap with inflation adjustments), require a referendum for anything above it, and let taxpayers have the final say.
Local governments would continue to fund basic services, such as police, fire, and schools. However, a state cap would push cities and counties to fund core services first and cut waste. And if they need more money, they would have to make their case to taxpayers, the same way Goodlettsville is doing this fall. The state isn’t overriding local control. It’s giving control to the local people who pay the bill.
If Tennessee trusts voters to decide on half a cent of sales tax, it can trust them to decide on the tax that falls on their homes, farms, and businesses.