Can a Tennessee property assessor correct an erroneous property classification or square-footage error after the original assessment year, and can the trustee then collect additional taxes?

Plain-English summary

Three questions came to the AG. Can the assessor fix a wrong property classification? Can the assessor reopen an assessment after a missing certificate of occupancy turns up? Can additional taxes be collected if a square-footage correction raises the property's assessed value? The answer to all three is yes, with one timing rule. Under Tenn. Code Ann. § 67-5-509, the correction has to happen before March 1 of the second year following the tax year at issue. Once the assessor certifies the error in writing to the trustee or municipal collector, that office has to apply the corrected assessment and collect the additional taxes.

The opinion is most useful as a roadmap for assessors who discover errors mid-cycle and for property owners trying to figure out whether a tax bill that suddenly went up was lawful.

What this means for you

If you are a property owner who just got a corrected tax bill

Two things to check. First, was the underlying error of a kind that § 67-5-509 lets the assessor fix? Errors in the listing, description, classification, assessed value, or physical description of the property are all correctable. So are mistakes in coding, entry, or transcription, as long as documentation establishes the error and the error affected value. What is not correctable is "a matter requiring an application of the assessor's judgment." If your dispute is really about whether the appraiser used the right valuation methodology, that is a judgment call, not a correctable error, and your remedy is administrative appeal.

Second, check the timing. The correction must be requested by the taxpayer or initiated by the assessor before March 1 of the second year following the tax year. A correction certified on March 5 of the second year is too late. Additional taxes from a corrected assessment become delinquent 60 days after the corrected-assessment notice is sent.

If you are a property tax assessor

Your duty is mandatory once you discover or are notified of a correctable error. Under § 67-5-509(c)(1), you "shall" certify the relevant facts in writing to the trustee or municipal collector. Failure to do so can carry criminal liability under §§ 67-5-305(a) and 67-5-306 for willful failure to perform statutory duties. Use a paper trail: a written certification with the property identifier, the nature of the error, and the corrected assessment.

This opinion gives you express authority to initiate corrections triggered by belated certificates of occupancy, square-footage corrections, and classification fixes. The "judgment" carve-out in § 509(f)(1) is the line you cannot cross. A reclassification from residential to commercial because the use changed is a correctable factual error. Re-running the appraisal model with different assumptions is a judgment call, not a correction.

If you are a county trustee or municipal tax collector

Once you receive a written certification from the assessor under § 509(c)(1), you do not get discretion. Section 509(c)(2) requires you to "make" all corrections shown to be "right and proper" based on the certificate, then collect taxes based on the revised and prorated assessment. The 60-day delinquency clock starts on the date you send the corrected-assessment notice to the taxpayer, not on the date of the original tax bill.

If you are a real estate attorney advising buyers

Add this to your due-diligence checklist. A property closing in 2026 could still be exposed to a corrected 2025 assessment if it is certified before March 1, 2027. The seller-allocation language in your purchase agreement should address corrected assessments separately from ordinary annual taxes, and you should warn the buyer that a corrected bill can arrive months after closing.

Common questions

Q: How far back can a property tax error be corrected?
A: To "the second year following the tax year." So in 2026, the assessor can still correct errors from the 2024 tax year if the certification happens before March 1, 2026. After March 1 of the second following year, the error becomes uncorrectable through this statute.

Q: What kinds of errors qualify?
A: Listing, description, classification, assessed value, physical description, and coding/entry/transcription mistakes. The classification example in this opinion (residential vs. another class) is the canonical case.

Q: What kinds of "errors" do not qualify?
A: Anything "requiring an application of the assessor's judgment." If the dispute is really about valuation methodology or comparable-sales selection, that is not a § 67-5-509 correction.

Q: If the corrected assessment is lower, does the property owner get a refund?
A: The opinion does not directly address downward corrections, but the statute applies symmetrically. Section 509 contemplates corrections in either direction. Refund procedures follow the trustee's normal refund process.

Q: When are the additional taxes due?
A: Sixty days after the date the corrected-assessment notice is sent to the taxpayer. After that, they are delinquent under § 67-5-509(d).

Q: Can the assessor act on a missing certificate of occupancy alone?
A: Yes. The opinion specifically says receipt of an updated certificate of occupancy is enough to "initiate the correction" if the original assessment was off because the certificate was not yet in hand.

Q: Is the assessor required to act, or just permitted?
A: Required. The statutory language is mandatory ("shall certify"), and failure to perform statutory duties can trigger criminal liability under §§ 67-5-305(a) and 67-5-306.

Background and statutory framework

Tennessee assesses real property annually as of January 1 of the tax year. Tenn. Code Ann. § 67-5-504(a). But assessors do not appraise (i.e., establish new values) every year. Reappraisals run on a four-, five-, or six-year cycle depending on the county. § 67-5-1601(a). Between reappraisal years, assessed values "generally remain unchanged."

Section 67-5-509 is the safety valve for that cycle. When the assessor or a taxpayer identifies an error, the statute provides a path to fix it without waiting for the next reappraisal. The mechanism is administrative: the assessor certifies in writing, the trustee corrects and collects, and any additional tax is delinquent 60 days after the notice.

The "judgment" carve-out in § 509(f)(1) keeps the correction power narrow. The statute is for fixing demonstrable mistakes, not for re-litigating valuation. Property owners who want to challenge a valuation methodology have other administrative and judicial remedies, including the local board of equalization and ultimately the State Board of Equalization.

Citations and references

Statutes:
- Tenn. Code Ann. § 67-5-509 (Correction of errors)
- Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 67-5-305, 67-5-306 (Assessor liability for willful failure)
- Tenn. Code Ann. § 67-5-603 (New improvements)

Source

• Landing page: https://www.tn.gov/attorneygeneral/opinions.html
• Original PDF: https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/attorneygeneral/documents/ops/2025/op25-003.pdf

Original opinion text

STATE OF TENNESSEE
OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
January 17, 2025
Opinion No. 25-003
Correction of Property Tax Assessments under Tenn. Code Ann. § 67-5-509

Question 1
Can a property tax assessor correct an erroneous classification of taxed property?

Opinion 1
Yes. The assessor must correct classification errors, and the trustee or municipal collector
must collect additional taxes, if necessary, based on timely corrections.

Question 2
If a classification error results from the assessor's lack of an up-to-date certificate of
occupancy, can the assessor initiate a correction upon receipt of such an up-to-date certificate?

Opinion 2
Yes. The assessor must initiate the correction and prorate the assessment appropriately.

Question 3
If the correction of an error in a property's square footage increases the property's assessed
value, can additional taxes be collected on account of that increase in value?

Opinion 3
Yes. If the assessor timely corrects an error, the trustee must collect taxes accordingly.

ANALYSIS

Tennessee's property tax laws require assessment errors to be corrected if the process is
"requested by the taxpayer" or "initiated by [an] assessor" before March 1 of "the second year
following the tax year" at issue. Tenn. Code Ann. § 67-5-509(d).

Although correctable errors do not include "matters requiring an application of the
assessor's judgment," id. § 509(f)(1), they clearly include "error[s] or omission[s] in the listing,
description, classification or assessed value of property," id. § 509(c)(1), as well as errors in a
property's "physical description," id. § 509(f)(1). They also include mistakes made "in coding,
entry, or transcription of data," so long as "documentation clearly establishes" such an error and
the "error affected the property's value." Id.

The types of errors described in your letter all appear to fit within the statutory terms
permitting corrections, revised assessments, and additional collections.

When a tax assessor receives timely notice of a correctable error, he or she has an obligation
to "certify" the relevant facts "in writing" to the appropriate "trustee or municipal collector." Id.
§ 509(c)(1); see also id. §§ 305(a), 306 (imposing criminal liability for an assessor's willful failure
or neglect to perform statutory duties). That trustee or collector must then "make" all "corrections"
shown to be "right and proper" based on "such certificate" and collect the relevant taxes based on
the assessment as revised and prorated. Id. § 509(c)(2); see id. § 603(b). "Additional taxes due as
the result of a corrected assessment" will be "deemed delinquent . . . [sixty] days after the date
notice of the corrected assessment is sent to the taxpayer." Id. § 509(d).

JONATHAN SKRMETTI
Attorney General and Reporter

J. MATTHEW RICE
Solicitor General

MARY ELLEN KNACK
Senior Assistant Attorney General

Requested by:
The Honorable Robert Stevens
State Representative
425 Rep. John Lewis Way
Suite 432 Cordell Hull Building
Nashville, Tennessee 37243