What it means to ‘grow’ the penny

Moore County’s property tax rate is worth more – but growth still has to be measured with spending discipline

2:38 a.m. May 23, 2026

DUANE CROSS
MCO Publisher•Editor

Moore County officials can argue over pennies at budget time. But the bigger question is whether the county can make each penny worth more.

That is what people mean when they talk about “growing the penny.”

For 2026-27 budget planning, Property Assessor Shaun Sherrill’s updated tax roll helped grow the penny. In plain English, one cent on the property tax rate is now expected to bring in more revenue than before.

Sherrill said Moore County’s penny is now calculated at about $52,000 for budget purposes. That number has already been adjusted for collections.

That means each penny of the property tax rate is expected to generate about $52,000 in revenue. Ten pennies would equal about $520,000. Five pennies would equal about $260,000. A two-cent change would equal about $104,000.

That does not mean Sherrill raised taxes. He does not set the tax rate. The Metro Council does that. But the assessor’s work helps show how much taxable value is on the books. That number shapes the budget. And in a small county, it matters.

“We’ve had so much growth, and at the end of the day, what that does is reduce the tax liability,” Sherrill said.

In context, Sherrill was talking about the countywide burden. Growth can reduce pressure on the tax rate. It does not guarantee a lower bill for every property owner. But when more taxable value is added to the county, the cost of government can be spread across a larger base.

Moore County faces the same pressure as many rural counties. Schools, roads, public safety, emergency services, and debt payments all cost more than they used to.

When those costs rise, county leaders have only a few choices. They can cut spending. They can use reserves. They can raise the tax rate. Or they can grow the tax base so each penny produces more money.

The Metro Council failed to pass the first reading of the proposed budget on May 18. The Budget Committee is scheduled to meet at 6:30 p.m. Monday, June 1, at the American Legion building, 119 Booneville Hwy.

What the Penny Means

In Tennessee, “the penny” means one cent on the property tax rate. Property taxes are calculated per $100 of assessed value. So the larger the county’s assessed tax base, the more money one penny generates.

CTAS, the state resource counties use for budget guidance, offers a simple way to estimate what one penny will produce. The formula:

• Take the total assessed value.
• Divide it by $100.
• Multiply that number by one cent.
• Then adjust for the county’s expected collection rate.

In Moore County, Sherrill said the adjusted number is about $52,000.

Because the $52,000 figure has already been adjusted for collections, it should not be used by itself to calculate Moore County’s full assessed value. The actual assessed value would be higher than the $52,000 penny calculation suggests.

For budget planning, the working number is the one that matters: One penny equals about $52,000.

If Moore County needs to raise about $520,000, it takes about 10 pennies at the current penny value. If the penny were worth less, the county would need more pennies to reach the same number.

The tax rate did not change.

The penny got stronger.

Why that Helps Property Owners

For property owners, the benefit is not that growth magically lowers the tax bill. It is that a broader tax base gives elected officials another option.

Instead of raising the rate to cover every new cost, the county can collect more money from a larger base. That matters in a place where many families live on fixed incomes and every few cents on the tax rate shows up in the mailbox.

A stronger penny spreads the load across more taxable value. It gives the county more money for each cent on the tax rate. It reduces the need to lean harder on the same homeowners, farmers, and small businesses year after year.

But a stronger penny does not promise a lower tax bill.

Individual tax bills still depend on the final tax rate, each property's value, property type, and any exemptions that apply.

Still, the main point holds: A county with a broader, healthier tax base has more options than a county trying to fund every need from the same narrow base.

Reappraisal is Not the Same as Growth

This part can get confusing. In a reappraisal year, property values may rise across the county. But state rules are meant to keep the county from getting a big automatic tax increase just because property values went up.

That reset is called the certified tax rate process.

A reappraisal can still change individual tax bills. Some property owners may pay more if their property value rose faster than the county average. Others may pay less if their value rose more slowly.

But reappraisal itself is not supposed to be a hidden tax increase.

Sherrill described the ratio as one way to measure how Moore County is holding up after reappraisal.

“I was told by CTAS that, typically, at this point in the game, a couple of years after reappraisals, we should typically hit the low 70s, mid-60s on the ratio,” Sherrill said. “We’re at 88.”

Sherrill did not describe that as the tax rate itself, but as a benchmark tied to reappraisal. In plain terms, he said Moore County is holding up better than expected after the reappraisal.

New growth is different. New growth means new taxable value added to the county, not just a new price placed on the same property.

New homes can add value to the tax roll. So can new businesses, improved properties, business equipment, commercial growth, and larger private investment.

That is the kind of growth counties can build a budget around.

What the Updated Tax Roll Means for the Budget

For the 2026-27 budget, Sherrill’s updated tax roll gave Moore County a better starting point before officials settled on a final tax rate.

Again, that does not mean he raised taxes. It means Moore County had more taxable value on the books. That made each penny worth more.

That does not make the budget easy or erase rising costs.

But it changes the math.

Each cent now produces more money than it did before. That gives the Budget Committee and Metro Council more room as they weigh requests, debt payments, big-ticket needs, and the final tax rate.

Local Examples Show How the Penny Grows

Moore County can grow the penny through new homes, business investment, commercial growth, and larger projects that add taxable value. But each one has to be measured against the public cost it creates.

Sherrill pointed to several local examples where value is either already being added or could be added later.

For Silicon Ranch, he said the county has already realized some taxable value, even before the project is complete. “For the solar farm, what I’ve done right now is pick up five acres, office trailers, and a fence,” Sherrill said.

He also pointed to the 3 Rivers energy project as an example of how classification can matter. Personal property usually means business equipment that can be moved. Real property means land, buildings, and things attached to the ground.

At 3 Rivers, Sherrill said the state wanted certain tanks treated as personal property. He argued they were real property because they were tied to the ground. “That’s where we got the tanks and pulled a better value out of them, because they don’t depreciate as quickly as they would with personal property,” Sherrill said.

That may sound technical, but the impact is practical. If property is classified in a way that better reflects its lasting value, the tax roll can be stronger. That makes the penny stronger, too.

Sherrill said the Whiskey Creek project could add value once more homes are built and sold. Based on the one house that has been built, “on 79 houses, it’s $120,000 in tax revenue for us at the current rate,” he said. That does not include sales tax or occupancy tax for the short-term rental homes.

That is real money. Based on the current penny value, $120,000 equals a little more than two pennies on the county tax rate.

But it is only one side of the ledger.

Growth Still Has to Pay for Itself

A county can say it wants growth. But without a real land-use strategy, growth becomes a fight – one rezoning, one variance, one project, and one packed meeting at a time.

That is not a growth strategy.

Developers want predictability. Residents want protection. Elected officials want revenue (but they also do not want to get blamed for changing the county too fast). ... Planning and zoning boards get stuck in the middle.

If Moore County wants to keep growing the penny, it needs to decide where growth makes sense before each proposal turns into a public argument. That means looking honestly at roads, water, sewer, schools, emergency services, tourism corridors, farmland, and residential pressure. New homes may add revenue, but they also bring traffic, utility demand, emergency calls, and school impact.

That is why county officials cannot look only at the added revenue. They also have to ask what the growth will cost. The county does not need growth everywhere. It needs growth where the numbers work – and where the cost to taxpayers does not outrun the gain.

Those are the questions Moore County has to ask before major projects move forward: Will this add more money than it costs over time? Can roads and utilities support it? Will it create new ongoing costs for taxpayers? Does it strengthen the tax base without damaging the county’s character?

Those are not anti-growth questions. They are pro-math questions.

Spending Discipline Still Matters

Growing the penny helps, but it does not solve everything. A stronger penny can reduce pressure for a tax-rate increase. But if county spending grows faster than the tax base, the benefit disappears quickly.

That is the budget trap. A county can grow its tax base and still feel broke if every new dollar is quickly absorbed into ongoing costs.

A stronger penny works best when officials use it to steady the budget, plan for big needs, manage debt, and ease pressure on current taxpayers.

Growth gives the county breathing room. It does not replace discipline.

For Moore County, growing the penny means building a broader, stronger tax base so that one cent on the property tax rate produces more money.

The updated tax roll used in 2026-27 budget planning shows why that matters. Sherrill said Moore County’s penny is now calculated at about $52,000 after collection adjustments. When the assessed value grows, the penny grows with it. That gives the county more room before officials ever touch the tax rate.

A stronger penny can help property owners. But it does not promise a lower tax bill. That depends on what county leaders do next.

Growth helps. Planned growth helps more. But growth matched with spending discipline is where the penny finally starts to matter.