Tennessee Senate Bill SB0520

Tennessee 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 1/30/25
• Engrossed: 4/20/26
• Enrolled: 4/23/26

Caption

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 64, Chapter 1, Part 11, relative to the West Tennessee River Basin Authority.

Summary

SB0520 revises the statutes governing the West Tennessee River Basin Authority by replacing references to specific river basins with broader references to the authority’s service area. The bill updates the authority’s geographic scope to include a defined list of counties in West Tennessee and clarifies that, in Perry, Stewart, Houston, and Humphreys counties, the authority may only provide technical assistance, engineering services, and project management support. The bill also modernizes the authority’s powers and procedures by aligning multiple statutory references with the expanded service-area framework. It preserves the ability of county governments to obtain funding for planning, land acquisition, construction, operation, and maintenance of authority-related projects, and it reiterates that counties may, but are not required to, impose taxes on real property within the service area that benefits from the authority’s improvements and programs. It further confirms that counties may elect to participate in the program by majority vote of the county legislative body.

Impact

The bill amends Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 64, Chapter 1, Part 11, to broaden and standardize the legal description of the West Tennessee River Basin Authority’s jurisdiction and powers. It affects the counties listed in the statute by defining the authority service area and by specifying the limited role of the authority in four counties. It also preserves county discretion over participation and local funding mechanisms, including property-tax-based financing tied to benefited property.

Sentiment

The available voting history shows strong and unanimous support for the bill at each recorded stage, with committee votes of 9-0 and 11-0 and a floor vote of 32-0. That pattern suggests the measure was viewed as a routine, noncontroversial statutory update rather than a contested policy change. No committee transcript is available, so the record reflects broad procedural approval without documented debate.

Contention

There is little evidence of substantive contention in the available materials. The only potentially sensitive issues are the bill’s expansion and clarification of the authority’s service area, the limitation of services in Perry, Stewart, Houston, and Humphreys counties to technical and project-support functions, and the provision allowing counties to impose property taxes on benefited real property if they choose. However, the unanimous votes indicate no recorded opposition to those provisions.