Unicoi County - Subject to local approval, aligns the county's mineral severance tax with the tax amounts prescribed under state law. - Amends Chapter 213 of the Private Acts of 1982. Companion bill has been assigned Pri, the official text

HOUSE BILL 2655
                       By Jones R

SENATE BILL 2719
  By Southerland

                                       AN ACT to amend Chapter 213 of the Private Acts of 1982; and
                                                   any other acts amendatory thereto, relative to the Unicoi
                                                   County mineral tax.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
         SECTION 1. Chapter 213 of the Private Acts of 1982, and any other acts amendatory

thereto, is amended by deleting SECTION 2 and substituting:
                   SECTION 2. The rate of the tax shall be set by the county legislative body as

         prescribed in Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 67-7-203, as amended from time to
         time. Upon the ratification of this act by the Unicoi County Commission, the rate of the
         tax must not exceed the following amounts per ton on sand, gravel, sandstone, chert, or
         limestone severed from the ground in the county:

                             (1) For a tax period that begins prior to July 1, 2025, fifteen cents (15¢)
                   per ton;

                             (2) For a tax period that begins on or after July 1, 2025, and prior to July
                   1, 2030, twenty cents (20¢) per ton;

                             (3) For a tax period that begins on or after July 1, 2030, and prior to July
                   1, 2035, twenty-five cents (25¢) per ton; and

                             (4) For a tax period that begins on or after July 1, 2035, and for
                   subsequent tax periods, thirty cents (30¢) per ton.
         Every interested owner shall become liable at the time the sand, gravel, sandstone,
         chert, or limestone is severed from the earth and ready for sale, whether before
         processing or after processing may be. The term "sand, gravel, sandstone, chert, or
         limestone" shall mean sand, gravel, sandstone, chert, or limestone severed from the
         earth in the process of producing a saleable product by whatever means of severance

SB2719
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         used. It shall not include, however, any mineral taxed under the provisions of
         Tennessee Code Annotated, Sections 67-7-102 through 67-7-110, Section 60-1-301, or
         any lime or limestone used for agricultural purposes. The tax shall be levied upon the
         entire production in the county regardless of the place of sale or the fact that delivery
         may be made outside the county. The tax shall accrue at the time the sand, gravel,
         sandstone, chert, or limestone is severed from the earth and in its natural or
         unprocessed state. The tax levied shall be a lien upon all sand, gravel, sandstone,
         chert, or limestone severed in the county and upon all property from which it is severed,
         including, but not limited to, mineral rights of the producer, and such liens shall be
         entitled to preference over all judgments, encumbrances, or lien whatsoever created.
         SECTION 2. This act shall have no effect unless it is approved by a two-thirds (2/3) vote
of the legislative body of Unicoi County. Its approval or nonapproval shall be proclaimed by the
presiding officer of the legislative body and certified to the secretary of state.
         SECTION 3. For the purpose of approving or rejecting the provisions of this act, it shall
be effective upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it. For all other purposes, it shall
become effective as provided in Section 2.

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