Moore County’s quarter-cent question, explained

From groceries to tourism to county revenue, here’s a plain-English look at the proposal before Monday’s vote

9:32 p.m. Aug. 30, 2026

DUANE CROSS
MCO Publisher•Editor

Before we get tangled up in the words “tax increase,” let’s start with the simplest number in this whole conversation.

A quarter-cent sales tax means 25 cents more for every $100 in taxable purchases made in Moore County. Spend $20, and the increase is 5 cents. Spend $50, and it is about 13 cents. Spend $500, and it is $1.25.

That is the proposal before the Metro Council when it meets in special session Monday night. Council members will consider the measure on second and final reading and decide whether to put the question before Moore County voters in November.

Monday’s vote would not raise the sales tax. It would decide whether voters get to make that call.

What would the tax rate be?

Tennessee charges a 7% state sales tax on most taxable purchases. Moore County adds a 2.5% local sales tax, bringing the current combined rate to 9.5%.

The proposal would raise the local portion from 2.5% to 2.75%. The combined rate would then be 9.75%, which is the rate already charged in several surrounding counties.

Put another way, a $100 taxable purchase that now carries $9.50 in sales tax would carry $9.75. The difference is a quarter.

If someone averaged $500 a month in taxable purchases inside Moore County, the increase would amount to about $15 over a year. At $1,000 a month, it would be about $30.

There is a wrinkle with big-ticket items. Tennessee limits how much of the purchase price is subject to the local-option tax on many single items, so you cannot simply multiply the quarter-cent against the full price of every expensive purchase.

What about groceries?

Groceries are taxed differently in Tennessee. Qualifying food carries a lower 4% state sales tax, but the local sales tax still applies.

That means qualifying groceries bought in Moore County are generally taxed at 6.5% today – 4% state and 2.5% local. If the proposal passes, that would become 6.75%.

On $100 of qualifying groceries, the increase would be 25 cents. On $250, it would be about 63 cents. A real grocery cart may include items taxed differently, but the quarter-cent increase itself works the same way.

It matters where you spend the money

Where the money is spent matters in Moore County because we do not have rows of big-box stores, car dealerships, or shopping centers. A lot of us drive somewhere else when we need certain things.

If you spend $200 at a store in Tullahoma, Shelbyville, Fayetteville, or Winchester, Moore County does not collect the local sales tax on that purchase. The proposed increase would have no effect on what you pay there. Spend that same $200 at a taxable business here at home, and the quarter-cent increase would add 50 cents.

That works both ways. Somebody visiting Lynchburg pays the same local sales tax we do. If a family rolls into town for the day, eats lunch, buys a T-shirt, and picks up a souvenir, they pay the same local tax as the folks who live here.

Tourists would help pay it, too

Tourism has become part of the sales-tax conversation because Moore County may be small, but we welcome a whole lot of company. Visitor spending reached $15.59 million in 2024, and tourism data has shown that a large share of card transactions measured in the county come from people who do not live here.

That does not mean tourists pay most of Moore County’s sales taxes. The available tourism figure measures transactions, not the exact amount of tax paid by visitors. Still, it tells us something useful: visitors spend money here, and when those purchases are taxable, they help fill the same local sales-tax bucket as residents.

Supporters of the proposal point to that as one reason to favor a sales tax over other ways of raising revenue. Visitors help carry part of the load. Opponents make a different point: local families pay it, too, and Moore County voters have already rejected the increase twice.

How much money are we talking about?

Previous estimates have put the quarter-cent increase at roughly $80,000 to $100,000 a year – now, maybe as high as $125,000 – in additional local-option sales tax revenue. That number could rise or fall with spending and tourism, so it should be treated as an estimate, not a guarantee.

There is another important piece here: not every additional dollar would simply land in Metro Government’s general fund. Under Tennessee law, half of countywide local-option sales tax collections goes toward schools. State law also sets the rules for how the remaining half is shared locally.

So, an additional $80,000 to $100,000 in sales-tax collections would not mean Metro Government suddenly has that entire amount available to spend wherever it chooses.

The proposal also is not tied to one project. Voters would not be approving a quarter-cent specifically for roads, the jail, deputies, EMS, schools, or another department. The question is whether to raise the local-option sales tax rate itself.

Moore County has plenty of needs

There is no shortage of places where more money could matter. County leaders are looking at needs ranging from better services for seniors at the Active Life Center to a full-time Codes Department. Moore County is beginning another long-range land use and transportation plan, and there are continuing conversations about deputy pay, fire protection, EMS, roads, schools, and other county services.

The question for voters is whether this particular tax is the right way to raise more money to meet some of those needs. And even if we keep growing the penny, a quarter-cent by itself will not solve every problem sitting on the county’s doorstep.

Voters have said no before

Moore County voters have already seen this proposal twice. The quarter-cent increase failed 590-378 in March 2024. It came back on the November 2024 ballot and failed again, 2,234-1,259.

Those votes matter. Folks said no, and they said it clearly.

If the Metro Council sends the question back to the ballot Monday, voters will get another chance to weigh the cost against the county’s needs and decide whether anything has changed.

So, what happens Monday?

The special-called Metro Council meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Aug. 31, at the American Legion, 119 Booneville Hwy. A public hearing is scheduled for 6:20 p.m.

The posted agenda is short: roll call, public comment, consideration of the sales-tax proposal for the November ballot, approval of sample ballot language, and adjournment.

If the proposal passes its second reading, the question moves to the November ballot. If it does not, the tax stays where it is, and there is no referendum. If it reaches the ballot, the choice gets pretty simple: 25 cents more on every $100 in taxable purchases made here, with residents and visitors both paying it.

Then Moore County voters decide whether that quarter is worth it.