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HB0397 • 2026

Taxes, Sales

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 67, Chapter 6, relative to sales and use taxes.

Education Taxes
Active

The official status still shows this bill as active or still awaiting another formal step.

Sponsor
Vital, Gardenhire
Last action
2026-04-08
Official status
Placed on s/c cal Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee for 4/14/2026
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material does not provide specific details on the amount of tax revenue that will be reallocated or how this might impact taxpayers beyond the general description provided.

Tennessee Stadium Tax Allocation Act

This bill creates a special allocation of sales and use tax revenue for a specific stadium in Hamilton County if it meets certain criteria to fund capital projects and operational expenses.

What This Bill Does

  • Creates a new rule allowing a specific stadium in Hamilton County to receive a portion of state and local sales taxes, excluding school allocations, if it meets certain conditions.
  • Requires the entity managing the stadium to reimburse the state for reallocating tax revenue.
  • Limits the use of allocated funds to capital projects at the stadium, including paying off debts, and operational expenses.
  • Specifies that the special allocation will continue until either July 1, 2055, or when all debt is paid off, whichever comes first.

Who It Names or Affects

  • The entity managing a specific stadium in Hamilton County
  • Taxpayers who pay sales and use taxes

Terms To Know

NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS)
A division of college football that includes schools with larger athletic programs.
Apportioned
Distributed or allocated in a specific way

Limits and Unknowns

  • The bill only applies to one stadium in Hamilton County.
  • It is unclear how much tax revenue will be affected by this allocation.

Bill History

  1. 2026-04-08 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee for 4/14/2026

  2. 2026-04-08 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action Def. in s/c Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee to the Final Calendar No. 2

  3. 2026-04-01 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee for 4/8/2026

  4. 2025-04-17 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee calendar for 4/21/2025

  5. 2025-04-14 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee calendar for 4/15/2025

  6. 2025-04-14 Tennessee General Assembly

    Rule #83(8) Suspended, to be heard in Senate Finance, Ways & Means Committee on 4/15/2025

  7. 2025-04-09 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee for 4/14/2025

  8. 2025-04-02 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed behind the budget

  9. 2025-03-26 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee for 4/2/2025

  10. 2025-03-26 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action Def. in s/c Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee to 4/2/2025

  11. 2025-03-19 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee for 3/26/2025

  12. 2025-03-06 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor change.

  13. 2025-03-06 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) withdrawn.

  14. 2025-02-18 Tennessee General Assembly

    Refer to Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee

  15. 2025-02-18 Tennessee General Assembly

    Recalled from Senate State & Local Government Committee

  16. 2025-02-11 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate State and Local Government Committee calendar for 2/18/2025

  17. 2025-02-10 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate State and Local Government Committee

  18. 2025-02-05 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  19. 2025-02-05 Tennessee General Assembly

    Assigned to s/c Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee

  20. 2025-02-05 Tennessee General Assembly

    P2C, ref. to Finance, Ways, and Means Committee

  21. 2025-02-03 Tennessee General Assembly

    Intro., P1C.

  22. 2025-01-28 Tennessee General Assembly

    Filed for introduction

  23. 2025-01-27 Tennessee General Assembly

    Introduced, Passed on First Consideration

  24. 2025-01-16 Tennessee General Assembly

    Filed for introduction

Official Summary Text

Present law requires the
commissioner of revenue
to
deposit promptly to the credit of the state treasurer in state depositories all moneys received
through sales and use taxes
, and all such mone
ys
must be
be earmarked and allocated
in a certain way. Present law provides several special allocations.

This bill creates a special allocation, requiring that
a stadium

in
Hamilton County
must be apportioned and distributed
an amount
equal to
that
of
state and local sales tax revenue, excluding any portion of local sales taxes that otherwise would be allocated for school purposes,
if it meets certain parameters, including all of the following:



It is
designed to host games of an intercollegiate football team that competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS)
.



It is
designed to host games of international and high school soccer teams
.



It is
designed to host local and regional events
.



T
he entity designated to govern the operations of the stadium reimburses the state for costs to reallocate apportionments of the tax revenue under this bill
.

If the above parameters are met, this bill requires such amount be apportioned and distributed to the entity. The amount is
derived from
the sale of admissions to all events occurring within the stadium and from all sales of food, drinks, merchandise, and authorized goods and products sold from a location on the premises of the stadium in conjunction with an event occurring at the stadium,
parking charges, and related services.

However, this bill requires a
mounts apportioned and distributed to the entity be for the exclusive use of the entity to fund capital projects at the stadium, including the payment of debt service for capital proj
ects, and operation expenses associated with the stadium.

The allocation provided under this
bill
must continue until the debt service is retired, or July 1, 2055, whichever is sooner.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text
SENATE BILL 211
By Gardenhire

HOUSE BILL 397
By Vital

HB0397
000850
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 67,
Chapter 6, relative to sales and use taxes.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 67-6-103(d)(1)(A), is amended by
adding the following as a new subdivision:
(ix) Notwithstanding the allocations provided for in subsection (a), if a stadium,
which is designed to host games of an intercollegiate football team that competes in the
NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), games of international and
high school soccer teams, and local and regional events, exists in a county having a
population of not less than three hundred sixty-six thousand two hundred (366,200) nor
more than three hundred sixty-six thousand three hundred (366,300) according to the
2020 federal census or any subsequent federal census, and only if the entity designated
to govern the operations of the stadium reimburses the state for costs to reallocate
apportionments of the tax revenue under this section, then an amount must be
apportioned and distributed to the entity equal to the amount of state and local sales tax
revenue, excluding any portion of local sales taxes that otherwise would be allocated for
school purposes, derived from the sale of admissions to all events occurring within the
stadium and from all sales of food, drinks, merchandise, and authorized goods and
products sold from a location on the premises of the stadium in conjunction with an
event occurring at the stadium, parking charges, and related services. Amounts
apportioned and distributed to the entity must be for the exclusive use of the entity to
fund capital projects at the stadium, including the payment of debt service for capital

- 2 - 000850

projects, and operation expenses associated with the stadium. The allocation provided
under this subdivision (d)(1)(A)(ix) must continue until the debt service is retired, or July
1, 2055, whichever is sooner.
SECTION 2. This act takes effect July 1, 2025, the public welfare requiring it.