Roane County Government
The Roane County Trustee manages a professional business office located in the Courthouse. The Trustee serves three primary functions. (1) The Trustee acts as a treasurer for the county. (2) The office collects all county real and personal property taxes as well as State funds including sales tax revenues and Federal funds. There is a detailed account of all transactions. (3) The Trustee also invests temporarily idle funds. The Trustee is not responsible for setting the tax rate and is not responsible for property appraisals/assessments for tax purposes.
Tax notices are normally mailed in late September each year and are payable through the end of February. They become delinquent on March 1 each year. They remain in the Trustee’s office for 18 months. At that time, all taxes due are given to the Clerk and Master for collection. A lawsuit is then filed for collection of the taxes.
Property taxes can be paid online at Pay Property Taxes. A convenience fee will apply to these payments. The County does not benefit from the fees. Payments may be made at United Community Bank in Kingston or SimplyBank in Rockwood and Harriman. No fees are charged. Partial payments are also accepted when payments are made in the office.
The State of Tennessee has a tax relief program available for homeowners age 65 or older or homeowners that are 100% disabled as well as veterans with certain service-connected disabilities, and for the spouse of veterans killed in action. The Trustee does the paperwork for the state. The State of Tennessee makes the final determination of eligibility. The applicants must live on the property and cannot receive benefits for the elderly in another state. There is also an income limit that changes each year.
In July 2007, the State of Tennessee adopted a Property Tax Freeze Program for certain homeowners 65 years of age or older with a total combined income that does not exceed an amount set by State law each year. The Roane County Commission approved this program in 2007. The role of the Trustee is to accept annual applications from eligible homeowners who desire to have the current tax rate frozen when the first application is filed. The amount of land cannot exceed 5 acres. There is an income limit for all homeowners that are listed on the deed and the spouse is included regardless of whether the name is on the deed or not.
The Trustee is elected by the Roane County citizens every 4 years. Each day is different, and each Roane County citizen’s need is different. The Trustee and staff attempt to solve any and all problems that occur during the day. It is a fee office which means that it is designed by State law to operate using fees rather than property tax money.
