The senior property tax freeze

• It is a freeze, not an exemption. Under the program, a qualifying homeowner's property tax on their principal residence is frozen at a "base tax" — the amount owed in the year they first qualify. The Comptroller states that as long as the owner continues to qualify, "the amount of property taxes owed for that property generally will not change, even if there is a property tax rate increase or county-wide reappraisal." The homeowner keeps paying the frozen amount; the tax does not go to zero.
• It is a local option. In November 2006, Tennessee voters approved an amendment to Article II, Section 28 of the state constitution authorizing the General Assembly to let counties and municipalities adopt a tax freeze. In 2007 the General Assembly enacted the Property Tax Freeze Act, Tenn. Code Ann. § 67-5-705, effective July 1, 2007. Per the Comptroller, a county adopts the program "by either resolution or ordinance" of its legislative body — in Bedford County, the county commission. A county that adopts it may later terminate it the same way, effective the following tax year.
• The base amount can change in defined situations. Per the Comptroller: when improvements increase the property's value, the frozen amount rises proportionally; when the owner sells and buys another residence, a new base is set; and if the actual calculated tax ever falls below the frozen amount, the owner pays the lesser amount and the freeze resets to it.
• It is separate from — and in addition to — the state Tax Relief Program. Tax Relief (for low-income elderly and disabled homeowners and disabled veterans) is a different program that Bedford County already participates in; the county Trustee's page states that the Trustee's office "administers the Tax Relief Program through the State of Tennessee" and that it has been in effect since 1976. The Comptroller states the freeze's benefits "are in addition to the Tax Relief Program," with a separate application.

Because Bedford County has not adopted the program, there is no freeze application to file here. Had the June 9 resolution passed, the qualification rules are set by state law and State Board of Equalization rules, not by the county:

• Age: 65 or older by the end of the year in which the application is filed.
• Property: the applicant's principal residence, owned by the applicant, in a participating jurisdiction. The freeze covers only the residential portion, capped at a maximum of 5 acres of land; portions used for commercial, farm, agricultural, forest, or open-space purposes are not frozen.
• Income: combined income from all sources — for all owners of the property — at or below the county's limit for that tax year. The Comptroller calculates each county's limit annually by a statutory formula; Bedford County's 2026 limit is $43,780, per the Comptroller's published 2026 income-limits list. (Since 2023, state law also allows a jurisdiction to adopt a higher "local option" limit — $63,470 for tax year 2026. The Bedford County motion used the standard $43,780 figure.)
• Process: in participating counties, the homeowner applies to the county Trustee and must reapply, with proof of age, ownership, and income, every year. Per CTAS, the Trustee's eligibility determination is final, subject to audit, and knowingly providing false eligibility information is a Class A misdemeanor.

The item reached the May 12 commission agenda from the Rules & Legislative Committee "without a recommendation" (3–2), and with an unfavorable recommendation from the Financial Management Committee "due to unknown financial impact" (unanimous), per the official minutes. Commissioner Hooker moved to adopt a resolution establishing the freeze for seniors with annual income not exceeding $43,780; Commissioner Epperson seconded.

Commissioner Boutwell then moved to amend: refer the item to the finance committee, have the finance director produce a fiscal note on the cost to implement the program, return the committee's recommendation to the regular June commission agenda, and make it part of the 2026–27 budget hearing process. Hooker did not accept the amendment, and it went to a roll call. The amendment passed 10–8, as recorded in the minutes:

Voted yes (refer for fiscal note) — 10	Voted no — 8
Boutwell, Boyette, Brothers, Davis, Johnson, Pinson, Smith, Mark Thomas, Vick, Yockey	Anderson, Epperson, Farrar, Hooker, Maddox, Neeley, Adam Thomas, Thompson

Also from the May 12 minutes: Commissioner Neeley noted that the county currently matches the tax relief offered by the state for qualifying low-income seniors, said the $43,780 figure is set by the state based on Bedford County's median income, and "expressed doubt that the program would cost the estimated $150,000 per year that has been estimated."

During the public comment period, four residents — Samuel Davis, Russ Hovel, Brianna Akers, and Dave Rogers, as the official minutes record their names — spoke in favor of the senior tax freeze. The minutes record no further detail of any individual's remarks; the full comments are on the meeting video, roughly 4:50–9:56. When the item returned under the Rules & Legislative Committee, Commissioner Hooker again moved to adopt the resolution at the $43,780 income limit, seconded by Commissioner Epperson. After debate (summarized in the next section), Commissioner Farrar called for the question.

The motion failed on a roll call vote: 9 ayes, 8 noes, 1 pass. Passage requires a majority of the full 18-member commission — 10 votes. A yes vote supported freezing property taxes at current levels for seniors with income under $43,780.

Vote	Commissioners
Yes (9)	Bill Anderson, Keith Davis, Anita Epperson, P.T. "Biff" Farrar, Drew Hooker, Eric Maddox, Diane Neeley, Adam Thomas, Troy Thompson
No (8)	John Boutwell, Jason Boyette, Janice Brothers, Scott Johnson, Sylvia Pinson, Tony Smith, Greg Vick, Linda Yockey
Pass (1)	Mark Thomas

Commissioners disagreed about what the program would cost. The estimates below are statements by named speakers as recorded in the official June 9 minutes — Open Bedford asserts none of them as fact. The finance department's fiscal-note worksheet is reproduced inside the minutes PDF for readers who want the underlying figures.

• Commissioner Boutwell said that, based on the fiscal note, the tax freeze program "will cost $1.4 million over a 10-year period"; that Tennessee is last in the nation for per-pupil public school spending and Bedford County is almost last in Tennessee; that the city/county lawsuit is threatening to defund education; and, later in debate, that the cost will accumulate over time.
• Commissioner Davis said that, per TISA (the state's education funding formula), adopting a local freeze does not change the county's state TISA funding calculation, but "it risks creating a structural deficit" that makes meeting those legal obligations harder over time; that if the county fails to fund the minimum local contribution, the state will withhold TISA allocations and the Comptroller will not approve the county's budget; and that the program has existed since 2007 and "only 28% of counties have adopted it."
• Commissioner Neeley said property tax revenue has grown between $800,000 and $5.9 million per year in recent years (the $5.9 million reflecting a tax increase); that "we are talking about $115K for this program this year"; and that a budget line item set aside two years ago for salaries holds $240,000.
• Commissioner Maddox said the school budget will not be impacted; that current property tax revenue is $32.7 million; and that under a 10% tax increase the freeze would reduce the added revenue by $63,000, or $314,000 under a 20% increase.
• Commissioner Johnson asked finance director Robert Daniel whether the program was included in the 2026–27 budget proposal; Daniel said no, and answered yes when asked whether passing it without taking money from somewhere else would require a tax increase, "because the fund balance will not cover it." Commissioner Hooker said "we need to take it from other places."

• Bedford County has not adopted the tax freeze. The Comptroller's list of participating jurisdictions — 28 counties and 36 cities as of 2026-08-06 — does not include Bedford County or any city in it. Seniors here cannot currently apply for a freeze; the separate state Tax Relief Program remains available through the county Trustee for those who qualify under its own rules.
• The 2026–27 county budget was adopted without the program. At the special called June 30 meeting, the commission approved $198,205,381 in budgets and set the certified tax rate of $1.5083 per $100 of assessed value; per the county's own announcement, the tax-rate and appropriation votes each passed 17–0 and the full line-item budgets passed 15–2.
• The option remains open. Under the Act, the county legislative body may adopt the program by resolution in any future year; nothing in the June 9 vote forecloses the item from returning to a committee or a commission agenda.

Each open question below is answerable by a specific public document. As those documents are obtained, this page fills in.

Open question	The document that would answer it
How many Bedford County homeowners would actually qualify at the $43,780 limit? Numbers were discussed in debate, but no count appears in the adopted record.	A county fiscal analysis or Trustee/Assessor data matching age, ownership, and income criteria
What exactly does the finance department's fiscal note assume, year by year? The worksheet reproduced in the June 9 minutes is only partially legible in the posted scan.	The original fiscal note from the county Finance Department (public record)
What did the Financial Management Committee discuss and recommend at its May meeting between the two commission votes?	Financial Management Committee minutes for May 2026 (Clerk's office; committee minutes are not posted at a stable county URL we have verified)
Would a future motion use the standard limit ($43,780 for 2026) or the higher local-option limit ($63,470 for 2026) that state law has allowed since 2023?	The text of any future resolution placed on a commission agenda

Every source this page uses is public:

• The program itself — TN Comptroller: provisions, FAQ, and the table of every participating county and city.
• 2026 income limits for all 95 counties — Bedford County is line 002: $43,780.
• The statute — Property Tax Freeze Act, Tenn. Code Ann. § 67-5-705, as posted by the Comptroller.
• The implementing rules — State Board of Equalization, chapter 0600-09.
• Commission agendas & minutes — Bedford County's meetings page; the May 12 and June 9 minutes are the controlling record for the votes above.
• Meeting video — the county's YouTube channel; the May 12 and June 9 streams cover this item.
• The county Trustee — administers the existing state Tax Relief Program and, if a freeze were ever adopted, would take those applications too.

Adopting the tax freeze is a decision of the Bedford County Board of Commissioners, which meets in regular session at the Historic Courthouse in Shelbyville — the county posts agendas and minutes and explains how to speak at a meeting on its website. Four residents used that public comment period on June 9 before the vote. If the item returns to a published county agenda, it will appear in Open Bedford's meeting coverage automatically — that is how this site surfaces county business, and this page will link to it when it happens.