MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - Rutherford County Property Assessor Rob Mitchell is asking Tennessee’s governor and attorney general to investigate public payments made to the Tennessee Association of Assessing Officers, an organization he says has remained administratively dissolved for more than four decades.
Mitchell announced Monday that he had formally requested an investigation by Gov. Bill Lee and Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti. His request centers on payment records he obtained through the Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury’s public portal, which reportedly show state disbursements to the association for training services.
According to information cited by Mitchell from the Tennessee Secretary of State, the Tennessee Association of Assessing Officers, commonly known as TNAAO, was “administratively dissolved on March 17, 1983” and remains listed under an “Inactive – Revoked (Revenue)” status.
Despite that status, Mitchell said the association continues to operate across Tennessee, collect dues from county governments, conduct training programs and participate in discussions involving property-assessment policy.
Payment records submitted with Mitchell’s request reportedly include $2,045 in fiscal year 2025 and $4,120 in fiscal year 2026. Mitchell said additional payments dating to 2012 raise broader questions about how long public funds have been directed to the organization.
“These aren’t grants or reimbursements,” Mitchell wrote. “They’re vendor payments — to a vendor that, on paper, doesn’t legally exist.”
Mitchell is asking state officials to determine whether TNAAO was legally authorized to receive the payments and whether its dissolved corporate status affected its ability to contract with or receive money from government entities.
His request also seeks a special audit of payments made to the association, including what Mitchell described as an annual $75,000 contribution from the County Technical Assistance Service, commonly known as CTAS.
Mitchell has further requested that future payments be suspended until the organization’s legal status is reviewed and, if necessary, restored. He also wants officials to determine whether county governments should receive refunds for dues paid to the association.
The assessor raised separate concerns about TNAAO’s involvement in property-assessment policy. Mitchell said the association has supported treating certain single-family rental properties as commercial property rather than residential property.
He contends that such a policy conflicts with Article II, Section 28 of the Tennessee Constitution. According to Mitchell, the change has resulted in assessments that are 60% higher for affected property owners in Sumner County.
Mitchell also cited financial statements that he said show $75,375.21 in regional seminar income for the 2023–2024 period, while listing no seminar expenses.
Mitchell said that accounting warrants additional examination and “doesn’t add up.”
The claims presented by Mitchell represent his interpretation of state records and the association’s legal and financial status. No finding of wrongdoing has been announced by the governor’s office, the attorney general or the Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury.
It was not immediately clear whether state officials had formally opened an investigation or how TNAAO would respond to Mitchell’s allegations.
“What began as a routine administrative inquiry has revealed a decades-long breakdown in oversight,” Mitchell said. “The Comptroller’s own records show state money flowing to an entity that legally ceased to exist during the Reagan administration. This demands a serious and immediate response.”
