Property Tax Freeze Program for Eligible Senior Citizen Homeowners

In November 2006, Tennessee voters approved an amendment to the Tennessee Constitution allowing counties and municipalities a local option to adopt a property tax freeze program for qualifying property owners 65 years of age and older.

At this time, the following taxing jurisdictions have adopted the property tax freeze program: Shelby County, Memphis, Arlington, Bartlett, Collierville and Millington.

Provisions

Senior citizen homeowners qualifying for the program will have the property taxes on their principal residence frozen at a base tax amount, which is the amount of taxes owed in the year they first qualified for the program. Thereafter, as long as the owner continues to qualify for the program, the amount of property taxes owed for that property would not increase, even if there were a property tax rate and/or assessment increase.

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

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

  • When an improvement or an addition is made to the property resulting in an increase in appraised value
  • When homeowners sell their home and purchase another residence

For the application and qualifying process, you must contact the City of Memphis and other municipal Treasurer's Office and the Shelby County Trustee at the contact points listed below:

City of Memphis Treasurer's Office
125 N. Main Street, Ste 301
Memphis, TN 38103
Telephone: 901-522-1111
Web site: www.cityofmemphis.org

Shelby County Trustee
157 Poplar Avenue, 2nd Floor
Memphis, TN 38103
Telephone: 901-222-0200
Web site: www.shelbycountytrustee.com

Town of Arlington
5854 Airline Road
Arlington, TN 38002
Telephone: 901-867-2620
Web site: www.townofarlington.org

City of Bartlett
6400 Stage Road
Bartlett, TN 38134
Telephone: 901-385-6428
Web site: www.cityofbartlett.org

Town of Collierville
500 Poplar View Pkwy
Collierville, TN 38017
Telephone: 901-457-2200
Web site: www.collierville.com

City of Millington
7930 Nelson Street
Millington, TN 38053
Telephone: 901-872-7055
Web site: www.millingtontn.gov