New TN law to help growing governments save money on special census
State Rep. Robert Stevens, R-Smyrna, and Sen. Shane Reeves, R-Murfreesboro, sponsored the legislation that won Tennessee General Assembly approval Monday.
Stevens said the new state law will mean local cities such as Murfreesboro, Smyrna and La Vergne would be able to skip pursuit of any costly special census. This is because the state would be able to obtain data from the University of Tennessee Boyd Center of Business and Economic Research.
Local governments have sought new population estimates to prove growth from the U.S. Census Bureau official counts in 2020 to increase state shared revenues expected by the 2026-27 fiscal year.
"This legislation is a major win for Rutherford County and our municipalities," Stevens said in an email to The Daily News Journal.
"With the rapid growth in our community, we will begin to receive an increased amount of state shared revenue annually instead of waiting for the federal census every 10 years or incurring the expense of a special census in the interim.'
Stevens said the UT Boyd Center has the software and expertise to provide the Tennessee Department of Revenue with updated population estimates for all the state's local governments, Stevens said.
Crafting legislation: See how your TN House lawmakers' bills could impact budget and schools in Rutherford County
Murfreesboro Mayor Shane McFarland told The Daily News Journal that the city recently cancelled a special census because of the expected passage of the law from House Bill 780 and Senate Bill 875.
"Every time you do a special census, it gets tougher and tougher to get people to respond," McFarland said.
The Murfreesboro in-house special census efforts included using on-duty firefighters during non-emergency situations to gather information from residents, McFarland said.
"It's a very time consuming and an expensive process," said McFarland, who praised the work of Rep. Stevens to get the law passed.
Stevens said the idea for the bill came from Smyrna Town Manager David Santucci, a former city manager with Deerfield Beach, Florida. Santucci's former state used a similar process to update local government populations for Florida shared revenues.
The email from Stevens to The Daily News Journal provided the following additional comments:
'The significant additional funds received by our local governments will help them offset the cost of growth while continuing to provide necessary services to our residents," Stevens said.
'Simply put, over time the legislation we passed will bring in millions of additional dollars to our county and municipalities while also saving them the costs and efforts required to do a special census. This truly is a substantial reform that will benefit our residents."
Rutherford County Mayor Joe Carr said he's pleased with the legislation from the sponsoring lawmakers.
"We are grateful for their efforts," said Carr, who's a former state representative for District 48.
'The Revenue Sharing Bill, HB780, has the great potential of being a game changer for the county getting its fair share of state revenue apportioned by population. A huge thanks to Rep. Robert Stevens, Sen. Shane Reeves and our county lobbyist Will Denami for their work in getting this bill passed into law. It is this kind of cooperative work between state and local governments that will continue to allow Rutherford County to meet the growing demands of growth. The county is grateful for their leadership.'
The email to The Daily News Journal from Stevens included comments from Sen. Reeves.
"The bill passed overwhelmingly in the House and the Senate," Reeves said.
"Cities and counties are having to pay unnecessarily for special census efforts when the data is already available, which seems wasteful. This will save cities and counties that currently do special census projects millions of dollars."
Reeves said the reapportionment of state shared revenues will be more equitable each year based on where people reside throughout the state.
"No one's taxes go up," Reeves said. "No new taxes are imposed. It just reapportions the pool of shared funds based on current population data."
The Smyrna government provided the following comment from Mayor Mary Esther Reed about the legislation:
"This legislation is a significant advancement for Tennessee's municipalities,' Reed said.
'I want to thank our Town Manager David Santucci for bringing this idea to Representative Stevens, and I appreciate Representative Stevens for getting this bill passed in just one session.
"By allowing the use of existing data to estimate population growth, we can allocate resources more effectively and continue to provide essential services to our residents. The benefits of the bill extend beyond individual cities; by streamlining the process of updating population figures, the legislation promotes an equitable distribution of state funds across Tennessee, ensuring that all communities have the resources they need to thrive.'
Reach reporter Scott Broden with news tips or questions by emailing him at sbroden@dnj.com. To support his work with The Daily News Journal, sign up for a digital subscription.
This article originally appeared on Murfreesboro Daily News Journal: New TN law to help growing governments save money on special census
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