Murfreesboro, TN – Rutherford County Property Assessor Rob Mitchell was on WGNS Thursday morning (12/26/2024) and said, “Tennessee is facing an urgent crisis in affordable housing, a crisis that is being deepened by a growing trend among property assessors to reclassify residential rental properties from a 25 per cent residential tax rate to a 40 per cent commercial tax rate.”
Mitchell continued, “This shift is driving up rental prices, pushing small mom and pop landlords out of business, and giving large, out-of-town investment companies an unfair advantage in the market. The results are devastating for working-class Tennesseans who are already struggling to find affordable housing. The solution is clear: we need to redefine residential properties as homes for families—period. Only then can we protect the very citizens who make Tennessee a community, not just a marketplace.”
This shift in property classifications represents a regressive movement, worsening an already deeply regressive tax system. By eliminating the 25 per cent residential classification, Tennessee risks dismantling the very reason for having it in the first place—to preserve affordable housing for local families and protect small landlords from being driven out by rising costs. What is urgently needed now is legislative action to safeguard the homes of Tennesseans and ensure that residential properties are taxed for what they truly are: homes…