(UPDATE) County Commission Votes to Freeze Property Tax Rate for Low-Income Senior Citizens (View Video Here)

February 27, 2023
By: Dwayne Page

The DeKalb County Commission is giving low-income senior citizens a tax break!

During Monday night’s regular monthly meeting, the commission adopted a resolution to freeze the existing property tax rate for eligible poverty level seniors. The vote was unanimous.

County Mayor Matt Adcock recently came up with the idea and decided to move forward with it although a similar proposal had been discussed but not implemented several years ago.

“I want to give senior citizens that are at the poverty level the opportunity to keep paying the property tax rate they are paying now because I know going forward DeKalb County is growing and we have talked about building a school and a jail so with that possibly forthcoming I wanted to do something to ease the property tax burden on senior citizens with fixed incomes even if we have to increase the property tax rate at some point in the future,” said County Mayor Adcock.

“This would freeze the property tax rate for poverty level senior citizens but every year they would have to apply for it through the Trustee’s Office. I am not real sure how many people it would affect. Its probably a very small number but that’s the small group of people we want to protect,” said County Mayor Adcock.

“Applicants under the program would have to meet below the average median income for ages 65 and older and it only qualifies for their primary residence with no more than five acres of property. I think this is a good idea. We have a lot of needs in the county and if the property tax rate does have to go up at some point, then the people who it hits the hardest, our poverty level senior citizens would not be affected by it. They are the ones who have to worry most about how much money they have left for groceries, medicine, and to just get by from month to month living off their social security or what little retirement they have. However, if you make additions to your property, build onto it, etc. then when your property is reappraised the value of it may increase although your tax rate remains the same which could affect your total tax bill at that time,” said County Mayor Adcock.

In November 2006, Tennessee voters approved an amendment to Article II, Section 28 of the Tennessee Constitution giving the General Assembly the authority by general law to authorize counties and/or municipalities to implement a local option property tax freeze for taxpayers 65 years of age or older.

In its 2007 session, the 105th General Assembly enacted the Property Tax Freeze Act which establishes the tax freeze and authorizes the legislative body of any county and/or municipality to adopt the property tax freeze program. The Act became effective on July 1, 2007.

Under the program, homeowners qualifying for the program would have the property taxes on their principal residence (up to five acres) frozen at a base tax amount, which is the amount of taxes owed in the year they first qualify for the program. Thereafter, as long as the owner continues to qualify for the program, the amount of property taxes owed for that property generally would not change, even if there is a property tax rate increase or county-wide reappraisal.

In order to qualify, the homeowner must file an application annually and must:

•Own their principal place of residence in a participating county and/or city

•Be 65 years of age or older by the end of the year in which the application is filed

•Have an income from all sources that does not exceed the county income limit established for that tax year which for DeKalb County is $33,460 for tax year 2023.

In counties or municipalities participating in the Tax Freeze Program, an application may be made annually to the County Trustee or city collecting official.

The state Comptroller’s Office will calculate the income limit for each county annually using a formula outlined in state law.

Situations, where the base tax amount would change for a homeowner, are:

•When improvements are made to the property resulting in an increase in its value

•When the homeowner sells their home and purchases another residence

The tax freeze is available only on the principal place of residence of the qualifying homeowner located in a participating county or city.

February 25, 2023
By: Dwayne Page

The DCHS FFA Chapter and other students observed National FFA week February 20-24 by participating in daily activities at school including the first ever “Drive a Tractor to School” event held on Friday morning.

Participating students met in the parking lot at DeKalb Market where they unloaded  farm tractors and began their journey to the high school in parade fashion with a police escort.

Morgan Oyster, DCHS FFA Advisor and agriculture teacher said all the activities held during the week was an effort to involve more of the student body to help grow the chapter’s appeal and membership.

The week’s events began on Monday with the first annual DeKalb FFA Chapter sponsored fish fry held at the high school cafeteria which raised about $6,000 for the club.

Tuesday was “True Colors Day” when members of the student body were encouraged to join FFA members in wearing the FFA colors of National Blue and Corn Gold in tribute to the organization.

Other observances were Western Wednesday and Tacky Thursday. Also on Thursday, members of the local FFA Chapter gathered with other FFA students from across the state at the State Capitol to meet with state lawmakers and observe the legislative process. Oyster said FFA members locally visited with State Representative Michael Hale and State Senator Janice Bowling along with the Speaker of the House and Secretary of State among others during a “Flowers on the Hill” event.

In addition to the “Drive a Tractor to School” event on Friday, a few local FFA students visited Tennessee Tech University as part of a Goodwill Tour where they had breakfast and took part in leadership activities with State FFA officers

National F.F.A. Week was initiated by the National Future Farmers of America Organization — a youth leadership organization, and one of the largest in the U.S., to make a positive difference in the lives of young people by developing their potential for leadership, personal growth, and career success through agriculture education.

First founded by a group of young farmers in 1928, the F.F.A. mission, during National F.F.A. Week, is to prepare future generations for the challenges of feeding the growing population of the United States by teaching members various topics relating to agricultural technology, science, and business, i.e., Ag Business, Ag Mechanics, Ag Sales, Dairy cattle evaluation, and Agronomy, Food Science & Technology, and Dairy Food, etc.

Initially, the holiday was observed on a single day. In 1948, to recognize George Washington’s example and legacy as a leader and farmer, the National F.F.A. Board of Directors initiated a weeklong tradition.

Each year, all 700,000 F.F.A. members spend the weeklong holiday developing their potential for leadership, personal growth, and career success through agricultural education in creative and innovative ways in their various local F.F.A. chapters. During the week, F.F.A. members will take part in agricultural, leadership, and service-based activities across the country.

The organization hosts Career Development Events or Courses contests in which student members compete to test the skills they learned through agricultural education instruction from the program.

February 25, 2023
By: Dwayne Page

DeKalb County is in the hunt for another Community Development Block Grant.

During Monday night’s regular monthly meeting, the County Commission adopted a resolution to apply for up to a $420,000 Community Development Block Grant through the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development. If approved, the county would be responsible for paying a 16% local grant match. The Upper Cumberland Development District would make application on behalf of the county and administer the grant upon approval by the state.

This grant would go toward funding a new ambulance.  County Mayor Matt Adcock said based on estimates, the county could buy a new ambulance for around $250,000. Previous grants have been to fund fire trucks and equipment for the county fire department.

Before the vote, Commissioner Tim Reynolds asked if the county could use the grant, if approved to fund chassis remounts on two current ambulances in the fleet rather than buy one new ambulance. County Mayor Adcock said he wasn’t sure if that qualifies but he would inquire with UCDD.

Commissioner Myron Rhody then asked if the county could just buy two brand new ambulances outright if the grant is fully funded since it would almost pay for two. County Mayor Adcock said he had recently posed the same question to Tommy Lee, Deputy Director of the Upper Cumberland Development District who said that the county’s chances for getting the grant might be less if it tried for two ambulances rather than one.

The resolution states that “ Whereas, DeKalb County needs to improve community livability through the purchase of new emergency medical services equipment to meet the needs of the citizens of the county; and

Whereas, emergency medical service equipment projects are eligible activities under the Community Development Block Grant Program; and

Whereas, DeKalb County is eligible for a maximum grant of $420,000 under the Community Development Block Grant Community Livability category including the three-star bonus; and

Whereas, DeKalb County has agreed to pay the required 16% of the local total project cost (based on the DeKalb County 20% Ability-to-Pay rate with the ThreeStar 4-point match reduction), plus any additional funding required to complete the project beyond the grant amount”.

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