Tennessee House Bill HB0980

Tennessee 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 2/5/25
• Refer: 2/10/25
• Refer: 3/12/25

Caption

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 6, Chapter 51 and Title 7, Chapter 69, relative to tourism development authorities.

Summary

HB0980 creates a new process allowing a tourism development authority that owns real property inside a municipality to petition that municipality to deannex the property, so long as the deannexation would not create an enclave of unincorporated territory completely surrounded by municipal boundaries. The petition must include a map of the plat to be deannexed, and the municipality must determine any debt amount owed under existing annexation/deannexation law within 30 days of receiving the petition. The bill provides that the deannexation becomes effective 60 days after the municipality receives the petition. Once operative, municipal jurisdiction ends over the excluded territory, except for responsibility for debt newly contracted after annexation and before the surrender of jurisdiction. The measure amends Tennessee Code Annotated Title 7, Chapter 69, and references Title 6, Chapter 51 for debt-related procedures tied to municipal annexation and contraction.

Impact

HB0980 would expand the statutory tools available to tourism development authorities by giving them a direct, streamlined path to remove their property from municipal corporate limits under specified conditions. It would affect municipal annexation and deannexation procedures, particularly where tourism-related property is owned by a development authority and lies within city boundaries, and it would require municipalities to process debt determinations on an expedited timeline. The bill also clarifies that municipal authority ends over the deannexed territory on the operative date, subject to any newly contracted debt obligations.

Sentiment

The available voting history suggests the bill was received favorably in committee, with the House Cities & Counties Subcommittee recommending passage by a 7-0 vote. No committee transcript is available, so there is no recorded debate to indicate opposition or concerns in discussion. Overall, the bill appears to have had broad early support at the subcommittee stage.

Contention

The main potential points of contention are likely to involve municipal control, annexation boundaries, and financial responsibility for debt associated with the property. Municipalities may be concerned about losing jurisdiction over land within their limits, while tourism development authorities may support the bill as a way to align governance with the property’s use and ownership. The debt-determination requirement and the restriction against creating a completely surrounded unincorporated enclave are designed to address some of those concerns, but those issues remain the most likely areas of dispute.