Constitutional Amendment 2: Prohibit a State Property Tax
Statewide — all of Tennessee
General election · Tuesday, November 3, 2026
- Legislatively referred constitutional amendment, proposed as HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 81 (113th) & SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION 1 (114th). Ballotpedia News reports the April 2025 final votes on SJR 1 were 26-5 in the Senate (March 26, 2025) and 89-6 in the House (April 21, 2025). Tennessee Lookout and WPLN report that Republican leaders launched a "Yes on 2" campaign in June 2026 with lawmakers, county officials, the Tennessee Chamber of Commerce and the Farm Bureau of Tennessee; Tennessee has not had a state property tax for more than 75 years. To pass, an amendment must receive more yes than no votes and a number of yes votes greater than one-half of all votes cast for governor, so a ballot that leaves the question blank does not count toward passage.[1][2][3]
The question on the ballot
Shall Article II, Section 28 of the Constitution of the State of Tennessee be amended by deleting the following language from the first sentence: In accordance with the following provisions, all property real, personal or mixed shall be subject to taxation, but the Legislature and substituting instead the following: In accordance with the following provisions, all property real, personal, or mixed shall be subject to taxation, but the Legislature shall not levy, authorize, or otherwise permit any state tax upon such property, and the Legislature[1]
Attorney General's summary (as posted by the Secretary of State): This amendment adds text to Article II, section 28 of the Tennessee Constitution that prohibits the Legislature from imposing a State property tax on real, personal, or mixed property. WPLN News reports city and county property taxes would not be affected. The Fiscal Review Committee fiscal note estimates only a one-time $9,400 local cost to publish the sample ballot.[1][3]
A YES vote means
Adds language to Article II, Section 28 providing that the Legislature shall not levy, authorize or otherwise permit any state tax on real, personal or mixed property. (Secretary of State: a yes vote adopts the language in the proposed amendment.)
A NO vote means
Keeps the current Article II, Section 28 language unchanged. (Secretary of State: a no vote keeps the current language in the Constitution.)
The law today
Article II, Section 28 now provides that all property, real, personal or mixed, shall be subject to taxation, subject to the Legislature's authority as set out in that section. The Chattanooga Times Free Press reports Tennessee has not collected a state property tax since 1949, but the General Assembly can impose one with a simple legislative majority; local property taxes are not affected.[1][6]
Official fiscal estimate
Fiscal Review Committee fiscal note (Dec. 20, 2024): the only estimated impact is a one-time, mandatory local government expenditure of $9,400 in FY26-27 to publish the longer sample ballot, based on the Secretary of State's recent publication costs. The note estimates no other costs.[5]
Arguments made for
- Sen. Ferrell Haile (R-Gallatin), a regional chair of the "Yes on 2" campaign, told the Tennessee Lookout: "There may always be a temptation when things get tight not to reduce spending but to increase taxes, and I think the state should keep their hands off of people's property."[4]
- Sen. Bo Watson (R-Chattanooga), a Hamilton County chair of the Yes on 2 coalition, told the Chattanooga Times Free Press: “Tennessee is a low-tax state, and this enshrines that low tax philosophy into our constitution just like the income tax.”[6]
- Chris Garrett, president of the Tennessee Association of Realtors, told WKRN: “Most people don’t even realize that we actually have a state property tax; it’s just set at zero, and all it would take is a simple majority for the legislature to enact a state property tax.”[7]
Arguments made against
- Rep. John Ray Clemmons (D-Nashville), chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, said: "I wish Republicans would put as much effort into working with us Democrats to lower the cost of living for working Tennesseans as they put into amending the state Constitution."[4]
- Sen. Jeff Yarbro (D-Nashville), per WKRN, said during debate: “In this case, we’re locking in General Assembly 70, 100 years from now, regardless of whatever circumstances are coming their way, be it war or economic collapse. That is an unwise thing to do, especially because there’s no threat here. No one wants a state property tax.”[7]
On record in support
- "Yes on 2" campaign: Gov. Bill Lee (statewide chairman); House Speaker Cameron Sexton, Rep. Tandy Darby and Sen. Ferrell Haile (regional chairs), per the Tennessee Lookout.[4]
- Tennessee Farm Bureau, Tennessee REALTORS, Tennessee Chamber of Commerce, National Federation of Independent Business, Americans for Prosperity and Beacon Center of Tennessee, which the Tennessee Lookout reports are making a push to pass the amendment.[4]
- Sen. Bo Watson (R-Chattanooga) and Sen. Todd Gardenhire (R-Signal Mountain), Hamilton County chairs of the Yes on 2 coalition, per the Chattanooga Times Free Press.[6]
On record in opposition
- Sen. Jeff Yarbro (D-Nashville), who argued against the amendment during legislative debate, per WKRN.[7]
Research notes & limits
Question text and Attorney General summary verbatim from the Tennessee Secretary of State's page. Vote counts are from Ballotpedia News (reference). Arguments are named legislators' and a Realtors association president's statements quoted by the Tennessee Lookout, the Chattanooga Times Free Press and WKRN (WKRN article by Tori Gessner, Oct. 12, 2026, read via its Yahoo News copy, which shows the byline and date); the Clemmons statement is a general criticism of legislative priorities rather than an argument on the text. An earlier version cited an advocacy-group commentary and a political newsletter guest column; both were removed. Supporters and opponents come from news reports of the Yes on 2 coalition and legislative debate; no organized opposition committee was identified. No Registry of Election Finance totals were retrieved, so campaign finance is not shown.
Sources · 7
Researched 2026-10-19. Green citations are official government records.
- 1.2026 Proposed Constitutional Amendments (Attorney General summaries and ballot questions) · Tennessee Secretary of State Official record
- 2.Tennessee legislators advance constitutional amendments on crime victims' rights, bail, and property taxes to 2026 ballot · Ballotpedia News · 2025-04-24 Reference
- 3.Voters face three constitutional questions in November election · WPLN News / Tennessee Lookout · 2026-06-03 News report
- 4.Tennessee lawmakers push ban on state property tax · Tennessee Lookout · 2026-06-02 News report
- 5.Fiscal Note, SJR 1 (state property tax amendment) · Tennessee General Assembly Fiscal Review Committee · 2024-12-20 Official record
- 6.Ban on state property tax on November ballot for Tennessee voters · Chattanooga Times Free Press · 2026-10-06 News report
- 7.Tennessee voters to decide whether to ban a tax the state hasn't collected in 77 years · WKRN (via Yahoo News; by Tori Gessner) · 2026-10-12 News report