AN ACT to amend Chapter 615 of the Private Acts of 1931; as amended by Chapter 326 of the Private Acts of 1941; Chapter 534 of the Private Acts of 1953; Chapter 39 of the Private Acts of 1965; Chapter 20 of the Private Acts of 1965; Chapter 220 of the Private Acts of 1974; Chapter 106 of the Private Acts of 2000; and Chapter 5 of the Private Acts of 2017; and any other acts amendatory thereto, relative to the charter for the City of Ridgeside.
HB1439 is a private act that completely rewrites the charter of the City of Ridgeside. The bill restates the city’s corporate name and boundaries, reaffirms existing annexation-based boundaries, and makes a technical correction to one historical boundary description. It then sets out a full municipal charter covering the city’s powers, elections, governing body, mayoral and commissioner duties, officers and employees, city court, city attorney, finance, taxation, and transition provisions.
Substantively, the charter gives Ridgeside broad municipal authority to tax, borrow, issue debt instruments, acquire and dispose of property, regulate utilities, manage streets and public works, license businesses, enforce ordinances, regulate zoning and nuisances, and operate a city court. It also establishes a three-member board of commissioners, four-year terms, election timing aligned with gubernatorial election years, rules for vacancies and quorum, and procedures for ordinances and resolutions. The act preserves existing incumbents and provides that it takes effect only if approved by a two-thirds vote of the city’s legislative body, with the charter otherwise effective upon passage for approval purposes.
The bill replaces and supersedes the prior private charter provisions for Ridgeside and updates the city’s governing framework in Tennessee law. It affects municipal governance, election procedures, taxation authority, court structure, and administrative powers, while also reaffirming the city’s boundaries and annexation authority. It expressly states that inconsistent local ordinances and prior laws affecting the city are repealed or superseded to the extent necessary to make the new charter effective, but it does not remove incumbents or alter their current salaries before their terms end.
The available voting history shows strong and unanimous support at every stage. The House Private Acts Committee recommended passage 10-0, the House State & Local Government Committee recommended passage 17-0, and the House passed the bill on the consent calendar 86-0. No committee transcript or recorded debate is provided, so the overall sentiment appears broadly favorable and noncontroversial.
No significant opposition is reflected in the available record. The only potentially sensitive issues in the text are the city’s broad taxing and regulatory powers, the continuation of a city court, and the unusual voter eligibility rule allowing certain nonresident freeholders with a controlling interest in taxable property to vote in city elections. The bill also includes a technical correction to a historic boundary description referencing the “Negro Baptist Church,” but there is no evidence in the provided materials that this drew dispute.