What Moore County’s sales tax proposal means

From a $35 purchase to a $250 grocery bill, here’s what Moore County’s proposed increase would mean at the register

10:20 p.m. Aug. 11, 2026

DUANE CROSS
MCO Publisher•Editor

A proposed quarter-cent sales tax increase could go before Moore County voters in November. If voters approve it, the county’s combined sales tax rate would rise from 9.5% to 9.75%.

The increase amounts to 25 cents for every $100 in taxable purchases made in Moore County.

Spend $20, and it adds 5 cents.

Spend $100, and it adds 25 cents.

Spend $500, and it adds $1.25.

What about a $35 purchase?

Say someone spends $35 at Lynchburg Gifts & More. At the current 9.5% rate, the sales tax would be about $3.33.

At 9.75%, the tax would be about $3.41.

The quarter-cent increase itself would add about 9 cents to the purchase.

The higher rate would apply whether the shopper lives in Moore County or is visiting Lynchburg.

What about groceries?

Groceries work a little differently.

Tennessee taxes groceries that qualify for the lower food rate at 4%. Moore County then adds its local sales tax.

Right now, Moore County’s local rate is 2.5%. That means qualifying groceries bought in Moore County are taxed at a total of 6.5%:

4% state tax + 2.5% local tax = 6.5%

If voters approve the quarter-cent increase, Moore County’s local rate would rise from 2.5% to 2.75%.

That would make the total tax on qualifying groceries 6.75%:

4% state tax + 2.75% local tax = 6.75%

On a $250 purchase of groceries that qualify for the lower food tax rate at Woodards, the tax would rise from $16.25 to about $16.88.

The increase would add about 63 cents.

A real grocery cart can include items taxed at different rates, so the exact total would depend on what is bought.

What about visitors?

Visitors would also pay the higher rate on taxable purchases made in Moore County.

If a tourist spends $500 during a day in Lynchburg, the sales tax would rise from $47.50 to $48.75.

The increase would be $1.25.

Visitor spending in Moore County reached $15.59 million in 2024, according to the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development.

Not all of that $15.59 million was subject to the regular sales tax rate.

The state is expected to release 2025 county tourism figures in September.

What about shopping outside Moore County?

The proposed increase would apply only to taxable purchases made in Moore County. That matters because Moore County has fewer places to shop than nearby communities.

Residents often shop in Shelbyville, Tullahoma, Fayetteville, Winchester, Decherd, and other nearby towns. A Moore County sales tax increase would not change the tax on those purchases.

Shelbyville and Tullahoma have a 9.75% sales tax rate. Fayetteville is at 9.5%, while Winchester and Decherd are at 9.25%.

If a Moore County resident spends $200 in Tullahoma, this referendum would not change that bill.

If the same resident spends $200 in Lynchburg, the proposed increase would add 50 cents.

What does the increase look like?

• $20 spent: 5 cents more
• $35 spent: about 9 cents more
• $50 spent: about 13 cents more
• $100 spent: 25 cents more
• $250 spent: about 63 cents more
• $500 spent: $1.25 more
• $1,000 spent: $2.50 more

Someone who spends $500 each month on taxable purchases in Moore County would pay about $15 more over a year.

Someone who spends $1,000 a month on taxable purchases in Moore County would pay about $30 more a year.

Voters have seen it before

If the proposal reaches the November ballot, it would be the third vote on the same quarter-cent increase since March 2024.

Voters rejected it in March 2024, with 590 voting against it and 378 voting for it.

The proposal returned that November, when 2,234 voted against the increase, and 1,259 supported it.

If Metro Council sends it to the ballot, Moore County will decide the question again in November.