Case Summaries 
of Importance to Counties

2016 Taxation

  • Caney Fork Electric Cooperative, Inc. v. State Board of Equalization, No. M2016-00316-COA-R12-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. 2016)--Five rural electric cooperatives disputed the State Board of Equalization’s recalculation of their 2015 ad valorem taxes.  The recalculation was in response to an Attorney General’s opinion issued in 2015 which stated that a tax exemption for newly-constructed plants and facilities was unconstitutional.  The tax exemption was subsequently removed from the law in 2016.  The Court held that the tax exemption found in T.C.A. § 65-25-122(a) was unconstitutional.  According to the Court, in order for the tax exemption to be valid under the constitution, the organization being exempt must be a charitable organization and must use the property exclusively for charitable purposes.  The Court found that rural electric cooperatives are not charitable organizations and thus, the exemption is unconstitutional (September 23, 2016).

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