Putnam County Commissioners voted Tuesday night to shift the county’s property reappraisal cycle from five years to four years.
Putnam County Assessor of Property Steve Pierce said the change is intended to improve fairness and protect revenue stability without raising taxes. Pierce said the proposal would help keep property values closer to market levels and prevent state-imposed equalization reductions.
“This is totally the transition we’re trying to do that I’m proposing we do from five to four, is fairness,” Pierce said. “It’s about fairness, stability, and protecting taxpayers, especially those on fixed incomes. I mean, a four-year cycle means smaller, more predictable adjustments, better equity among taxpayers, improved revenue stability in the system that reflects the real growth of Putnam County.”
Pierce explained the equalization ratio measures how close county appraisals are to actual market value. The state uses that ratio to ensure property owners across Tennessee are taxed at similar effective percentages of value.
Pierce said Putnam County’s equalization ratio dropped to about 74 percent in 2023 and then to 62 percent in 2025. Pierce said that means the county received 74 cents on the dollar of appraised value in 2023 and 62 cents on the dollar in 2025.
“The way to keep the state of Tennessee from reducing our appraise values is to increase the frequency of reappraisal,” Pierce said. “When these values rise like we’ve seen since ’21 was our last reappraisal, we wait too long between appraisals, we create inequities in the tax roll.”
Pierce said delayed reappraisals can affect elderly residents and disabled veterans who rely on state property tax relief programs. Pierce said when assessments are not updated in a timely manner, relief calculations can be reduced for those groups.
Pierce said bigger counties are moving to more frequent reappraisals. Some are even moving to a two-year cycle.
“We talk with CTAS consultants, they’re saying, ‘Look, Steve, the four year is the best because it doesn’t burden your office,’” Pierce said. “We go to two year, we’re going to have to have more people. We’re going to have to have more people, resources in the office. Four year, we can handle with the people we have now.”
Pierce said the commission needed to act quickly because the proposal must be submitted to the state by April 1. Pierce said the State Board of Equalization must review and approve the change.
“It’s critical we do this because we have to have it to the state board,” Pierce said. “We have to have the state board by the first of April. They have to go through and review it. The state board has to pass it. It’s a big deal that we vote on tonight.”
In other business, Commissioners also ratified County Mayor Randy Porter’s selections for the 2026-2027 budget committee.