Summary — SB 6007 (Pub. Ch. 6, 2025)
Status and scope
- Enacted as Public Chapter 6; signed by the Governor 02/12/2025; effective upon becoming law.
- Amends Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 67, Chapter 5 (property taxation) and Title 58, Chapter 8 (emergency management / mutual aid).
- Responds to damage from Hurricane Helene (FEMA-certified disaster for damage beginning Sept. 26, 2024 and through Sept. 30, 2024).
Purpose and intent
- Provide one-time state payments to owners of real or personal property destroyed or damaged by the FEMA-certified disaster (Hurricane Helene) in affected Tennessee counties.
- Clarify approval authority for governmental entities sending personnel/equipment outside their boundaries in response to mutual-aid requests during emergencies.
Key provisions — disaster payments (Title 67 changes)
- Eligible disaster window: FEMA-certified disaster occurring on or after Sept. 26, 2024 and before Sept. 30, 2024.
- Eligibility:
- Property (real or personal, taxed under Title 67, excluding intangible property and public utility property) must have been destroyed or damaged by the qualified disaster as determined by the county assessor of property by Jan. 28, 2025.
- Property must be located in a county included in the FEMA declaration.
- Owner must have owned the affected property at the time of the disaster and must submit all required documentation to the Comptroller by June 30, 2025.
- Payment amount: equal to 130% of the property tax levied on the property for tax year 2024 (i.e., 100% of 2024 tax amount plus a 30% supplement).
- Only one payment per property: if multiple owners seek payment for the same property, the Comptroller must pay the owner who first submits all required, correctly completed information.
- Payments apply regardless of whether property was repaired, restored, or replaced by Dec. 31, 2024.
- Sunset: the section is deleted on Dec. 31, 2025.
Key provisions — mutual aid (Title 58 changes)
- A participating governmental entity may send personnel and equipment outside its boundaries to another jurisdiction in response to a mutual-aid request, but such deployment is subject to approval by:
- the entity’s chief executive officer, or
- an emergency management employee/official, or
- the chief executive officer of a governmental utility system (as applicable).
- Legislative amendments clarified who may provide the required approval.
Fiscal impact (from Fiscal Review Committee)
- Comptroller responsibility to disburse payments; uses existing staff (no significant administrative cost projected).
- Based on assessor identifications (as of Jan. 28, 2025) of 3,230 damaged/destroyed properties in nine counties (Carter, Cocke, Greene, Hamblen, Hancock, Hawkins, Johnson, Unicoi, Washington):
- Total 2024 property tax for those properties: $3,568,756.
- Total state cost at 130%: $4,639,383.
- Estimated appropriation/payments split evenly over two fiscal years:
- FY24‑25: ~$2,319,692 (reported rounded as $2,319,700)
- FY25‑26: ~$2,319,692 (rounded $2,319,700)
- Mutual-aid approval requirement reported to have no significant fiscal impact.
Operational/timing notes
- Assessor determinations had to be made by Jan. 28, 2025 (per bill).
- Eligible owners must submit documentation by June 30, 2025, via methods determined by the Comptroller; failure to timely submit forfeits eligibility.
- The disaster declaration included 14 counties in total; the fiscal analysis used identified properties in nine counties (listed above).
