HB 317 – SB 365
FISCAL NOTE
Fiscal Review Committee
Tennessee General Assembly
February 21, 2025
Fiscal Analyst: Justin Billingsley | Email: justin.billingsley@capitol.tn.gov | Phone: 615-741-2564
HB 317 – SB 365
SUMMARY OF BILL: Removes the authority of a county or municipal legislative body to
opt out of training and continuing education for members of boards of zoning appeals (BZAs) and
for each building commissioner, professional planner, or other administrative official who advises
the BZA. Requires that training and continuing education courses for members of BZAs include the
issues of property rights and constitutional rights.
Requires, rather than authorizes, BZAs to adhere to certain general and supplemental rules of
procedure. Adds to such rules of procedure, the requirement to include the presentation of relevant
proof by parties to the proceedings.
Requires building commissioners and other administrative officials who grant or deny building
permits to inform, in writing, the parties to the proceedings of their right to appeal to the BZA.
Requires BZAs, when issuing a decision, to inform, in writing, the parties to the proceedings of their
right to seek judicial review of the board’s decision.
FISCAL IMPACT:
NOT SIGNIFICANT
Assumptions:
• Pursuant to Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 13-7-106(b) and 13-7-205(c), each member of a BZA must
attend four hours and each administrative official who advises the BZA must attend eight
hours of training and continuing education per year in one or more certain subjects, unless
the respective local governing body opts out of such requirement.
• The proposed legislation removes the opt-out provision, thereby requiring the annual
training and continuing education of BZA members. Additionally, the proposed legislation
requires that the topics of property rights and constitutional rights are included in such
training courses.
• Based on information provided by the County Technical Assistance Service and the
Municipal Technical Advisory Service, there are no known local governments that have
opted out of this training requirement. Therefore, removing the opt-out provision will
result in no significant increase in local expenditures.
• The proposed legislation retains the minimum requirement of four or eight hours of
training in one or more subject areas; therefore, including the topics of property rights and
constitutional rights as permissible subjects will not result in any significant increase in
training expenditures.
HB 317 – SB 365 2
• The proposed legislation will require building commissioners and other administrative
officials who grant or deny building permits to inform, in writing, the parties to the
proceedings of their right to appeal to a BZA.
• It is assumed that the majority of local government entities and officials inform applicants
for building permits, in conjunction with any notice of approval or denial, of their right to
appeal to the BZA; any local government that does not currently include such information
can do so utilizing existing staff and resources. Therefore, there will be no significant
impact on local governments to meet this notification requirement.
• Any increase in the number of appeals to a BZA is estimated to be not significant.
• Additionally, the proposed legislation requires BZAs, when issuing a decision, to inform, in
writing, the parties to the proceedings of their right to seek judicial review of the board’s
decision.
• A BZA can include the notification of the right to judicial review within any issuance of a
decision by the BZA; any increase in local expenditures is estimated to be not significant.
• Any increase to the caseloads of the court system is not significant.
• The proposed legislation is estimated to have no significant impact on state or local
government.
CERTIFICATION:
The information contained herein is true and correct to the best of my knowledge.
Bojan Savic, Executive Director