Tennessee Code 7-84-511 – Establishment of district by petition or resolution – Statement of intent – Effect of failure to collect requisite number of signatures
(a) The establishment of a district shall be initiated in either of two (2) ways, as follows:
Terms Used In Tennessee Code 7-84-511
Assessed value: means value as assessed for municipal property tax purposes. See Tennessee Code 7-84-503
District: means the central business district created by ordinance or resolution by a municipality, or a corridor of central business districts created by joint agreement of two (2) or more municipalities. See Tennessee Code 7-84-103
Governing body: means the council, commission, board or other body exercising general legislative power in the municipality. See Tennessee Code 7-84-503
Municipality: means any incorporated city, town or metropolitan government of this state exercising general governmental functions in the state. See Tennessee Code 7-84-503
signed: includes a mark, the name being written near the mark and witnessed, or any other symbol or methodology executed or adopted by a party with intention to authenticate a writing or record, regardless of being witnessed. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(1) By a petition filed in the office of the clerk of the governing body of the municipality, signed by not less than a majority in number of the owners of real property in the district having an assessed value of not less than two-thirds (2/3) of the assessed value of all the real property proposed to be included in the district. After the filing of the petition, no petitioner shall be permitted to withdraw the petitioner’s name from the petition. No petition with the requisite signatures shall be declared void on account of formal or insubstantial defects. The governing body, at any time, may permit the petition to be amended to conform to the facts by correcting any errors in the description of the territory, or in any other particular. Similar petitions for the organization of the same district may be filed, and together shall be regarded as one (1) petition with the original. All such petitions filed prior to the hearing on the first petition filed shall be considered by the governing body in the same manner as if filed with the first petition placed on file. The initiating petition shall set forth:
(A) The name of the proposed district, which shall include the name of the municipality in which the district is to be located, together with the words, “Central Business Improvement District”;(B) A general description of the boundaries of the district or the territory to be included in the district, identified with sufficient certainty to enable any and all owners to determine whether their property lies within the district;(C) A general description of the improvements, services, projects proposed for the district, and other proposed uses of special assessment revenues within the district;(D) The total estimated costs of the proposed improvements, services, projects and other proposed uses and the estimated rate of levy of the special assessment, with a proposed breakdown by property classification if such classification is to be used;(E) A statement that the petition is filed pursuant to the terms of this part; and(F) A request that a district be established pursuant to this part and that the administration of the district be governed by this part; or(2) By adoption of a resolution by the governing body setting forth the same matters as are required to be set forth in the initiating petition.(b) Before beginning to collect signatures for the petition pursuant to subdivision (a)(1), the proponent of the petition shall file a statement of intent with the governing body of the municipality. From the date the statement of intent is filed, the proponent has one (1) year to file the petition containing the requisite number of signatures. During that one-year period, the governing body shall not adopt any resolution pursuant to subdivision (a)(2).(c) If the one-year period expires without a petition with the requisite number of signatures being filed with the governing body, then no other petition may be filed pursuant to subdivision (a)(1), and no resolution may be adopted pursuant to subdivision (a)(2), for a period of one (1) year.
