Comptroller, State

Plain English Breakdown

Checked against official source text during the last sync.

Comptroller Reporting Requirements Act

This bill changes what reports the comptroller must give to Tennessee's government about broadband services and veteran scholarships, and updates how costs for property tax relief are estimated.

What This Bill Does

• Removes the requirement for the comptroller to report annually on the status of broadband service provision in historically unserved areas.
• Eliminates the need for the comptroller to study and report every four years on the effectiveness of the Tennessee Helping Heroes Scholarship Program for veterans.
• Changes how the comptroller estimates costs for property tax relief, focusing only on current program parameters instead of predicting future income limits.

Who It Names or Affects

• The comptroller of the treasury in Tennessee
• Tennessee's government officials and departments

Terms To Know

Comptroller

A person who manages financial records for a state or organization.

Historically unserved areas

Areas that do not have access to broadband internet services and are developed for residential use for more than five years, outside the service area of video or cable providers.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify how the removal of these reports will affect decision-making processes regarding broadband services and veteran scholarships.
• It is unclear what impact this change in property tax relief cost estimation will have on future budget allocations.

Official Summary Text

As described below, this bill revises obligations of the comptroller of the treasury ("comptroller") with regard to certain reporting.

TELECOMMUNICATIONS JOINT VENTURES

Present law generally authorizes a cooperative or
county or municipality, or any entity authorized by law to act on a county or municipality's behalf, to participate in a telecommunications joint venture that is created to provide broadband services to areas within the jurisdiction of the municipality, c
ounty
,
or cooperative that has been determined to be a historically unserved area, meaning that the area does not have access to broadband internet services, has been an area developed for residential use f
or more than
five
years, and is outside the service area of a video or cable service local franchise holder or the franchise area of a holder of a state-issued certificate of franchise authority.
The comptroller must
provide a report to the general assembly not later than January 31 annually on the status of the provision of broadband services in accordance with
this law
.
This bill removes the report requirement.

HELPING HEROES ACT OF 2008

Present law establishes the "
Helping Heroes Act of 2008
," which creates a
scholarship program
that provides a grant to certain veterans who are students
who
are
enrolled in at least
six
semester hours in a semester
for a maximum of eight semesters.
The comptroller, through the comptroller's office of research and education accountability,
must
review and study the scholarship program to determine the effectiveness of the program in educating veterans.

The study
must
be done in the fifth year of the progr
am and every
four
years thereafter.

The comptroller
must
report the findings and conclusions of the study to the speakers of the senate and house of representatives and the chairs of the education committees of the senate and the house of representatives.
This bill removes the study and report requirement.

TAX RELIEF

Present law provides property tax relief for e
lderly low-income homeowners
, disabled homeowners, and disabled veterans homeowners.
The comptroller
must
annually
(i)
estimate the cost of the tax relief program
at the current income limit, (ii) estimate the annual income limit for eligibility likely to maintain the property tax relief program at a constant level of expenditure, and (iii) provide these estimates to the department of finance and administration as
part of the budget preparation process and, at
the same time, provide these estimates to the members of the general assembly.

This bill rewrites (ii) above to, instead, only require the comptroller to
annually

estimate the cost of the tax
relief program under current program parameters, instead
of
estimat
ing
the annual income limit for eligibility likely to maintain the property tax relief program at a constant level of expenditure
.

Current Bill Text

HOUSE BILL 1799
By Darby

SENATE BILL 1687
By Seal
SB1687
009656
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 7-
59-316; Section 49-4-938 and Section 67-5-701,
relative to comptroller reporting requirements.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 7-59-316(e), is amended by deleting
the subsection.
SECTION 2. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 49-4-938(j), is amended by deleting
the subsection.
SECTION 3. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 67-5-701(e), is amended by deleting
subdivision (1) and substituting instead:
(1) The comptroller of the treasury shall annually estimate the cost of the tax
relief program under current program parameters and shall report this estimate to the
department of finance and administration and to the members of the general assembly
as part of the budget preparation process.
SECTION 4. This act takes effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it.