This year’s collection of Tennessee County Tax Statistics shows a great disparity among Tennessee’s 95 counties regarding revenues, tax base, and taxes.

Property tax

Property tax is the major source of revenue for counties. While the amount generated for each penny on the tax rate depends on growth and development, that doesn’t mean the metropolitan counties will have lower tax rates. The larger counties, with the largest tax bases, also tend to have higher property taxes. The highest property tax rate last year was $4.09/hundred assessed valuation in Shelby County, where each of those 409 pennies was expected to generate more than $1.7 million. The lowest rate was $1.00 in Carroll County (a certified tax rate in a reappraisal year), with each penny generating $28,423. The lowest value per penny last year was $6,421 in Lake County.

Last year, 34 counties increased property tax rates by amounts ranging from 4¢ to 62¢, or 2% to 27%.

Polk County’s rate last year was $2.99, with the value of a penny estimated at $22,771. Across the state, there were seven counties with a higher property tax rate and 24 with a lower value for each penny on the tax rate. In other sample counties: Bradley, $2.01 ($168,503 per penny); Grundy, $2.81 ($14,217/penny); Hamilton, $3.154 ($681,626/penny); Hancock, $2.27 ($7,132/penny); Knox, $2.69 ($805,299/penny); Marion, $1.85 ($46,078/penny); McMinn, $1.90 ($92,079/penny); Meigs, $1.8251 ($18,684/penny); Monroe, $2.03 ($73,678/penny); Sequatchie, $2.13 ($21,556/penny).

Sales tax

Across the state, 38 counties have a local option sales tax rate of 2.75%, the maximum allowed; 14 are at 2.5%; 36 are at 2.25%; five have rates of 2%; one is at 1.75% and one is at 1.5%. Polk’s local option sales tax rate is 2.25%, along with Bradley, Grundy, Hamilton, Knox, Monroe, Sequatchie, and Shelby. Those with a 2% rate include Hancock, McMinn, and Meigs. Those with 2.75% include Marion and Carroll.

Revenue generated from the local sales tax in 2007 ranged from $320,565 in Hancock County to $256,539,470 in Davidson County. In Polk, the local sales tax generated $1,420,871. In other counties: Bradley, $20,470,152; Carroll, $4,055,500; Grundy, $1,124,249; Hamilton, $100,243,475; Knox, $154,681,471; Marion, $6,589,965; McMinn, $8,961,221; Meigs, $584,779; Monroe, $7,511,327; Sequatchie, $1,689,890; Shelby $244,372,696.

Wheel tax

There are 57 counties in the state with a motor vehicle tax, with rates ranging from $10 to $80.25. Twenty-eight of the counties have rates of $40 or greater. Of the sample counties, those with a wheel tax are Hancock ($20), Knox ($36), Monroe ($25), Shelby ($50) and Carroll ($30).

Hotel/Motel tax

There are 69 counties with a hotel/motel tax, with rates ranging from 2% to 7%. Among the counties sampled, there is no lodging tax in Grundy, Hancock and Carroll counties. The rate in Hamilton is 4%; in Polk, 3%; in Sequatchie, 2%; and in the remainder of sample counties, 5%.

There are 66 counties with a mineral severance tax, with 56 allocating the funds to the highway fund. The maximum rate of 15¢/ton is imposed in 63 counties, while three are at 10¢ and one is at 5¢. Among the sample counties with a mineral severance tax are Carroll, Marion, McMinn, Meigs, Monroe and Shelby, all at 15¢/ton.