(a) The proposed metropolitan charter shall provide:

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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 7-2-108

  • Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
  • charter commission: means a commission established to propose to the voters for adoption the charter for a metropolitan government. See Tennessee Code 7-1-101
  • Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
  • General services district: means a service district within a metropolitan government whose geographical limits are coextensive with the total area in which the government functions. See Tennessee Code 7-1-101
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • Metropolitan government: means the political entity created by consolidation of all, or substantially all, of the political and corporate functions of a county and a city or cities. See Tennessee Code 7-1-101
  • Municipal corporation: means an incorporated city or town. See Tennessee Code 7-1-101
  • Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
  • Principal city: means :
    (A) That municipal corporation having the largest population of any municipality in a particular county. See Tennessee Code 7-1-101
  • Property: includes both personal and real property. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Record: means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in a perceivable form. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Urban services district: means a service district within a metropolitan government in which are furnished by the metropolitan government municipal services additional to those provided in the general services district. See Tennessee Code 7-1-101
  • Year: means a calendar year, unless otherwise expressed. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(1) For the creation of a metropolitan government vested with:

(A) Any and all powers that cities are, or may hereafter be, authorized or required to exercise under the Constitution and general laws of the state, as fully and completely as though the powers were specifically enumerated in the Constitution and general laws of the state, except only for such limitations and restrictions as are provided in chapters 1-6 of this title or in such charter; and
(B) Any and all powers that counties are, or may hereafter be, authorized or required to exercise under the Constitution and general laws of the state, as fully and completely as though the powers were specifically enumerated in the Constitution and general laws of the state, except only for such limitations and restrictions as are provided in chapters 1-6 of this title or in such charter;
(2) That the territory embraced in the metropolitan government shall be the total area of the county;
(3) The name of the metropolitan government, which name may be:

(A) The name of the principal city followed by the words “metropolitan government”;
(B) The name of the county followed by the words “metropolitan government”;
(C) A compound word consisting of the name of the principal city of the county, followed by the words “metropolitan government”; or
(D) Such other name as the charter commission shall deem historically and geographically appropriate;
(4) That the metropolitan government shall be a public corporation, with perpetual succession, capable of suing and being sued, and capable of purchasing, receiving and holding property, real and personal, and of selling, leasing or disposing of property, real and personal, to the same extent as other governmental entities;
(5) For two (2) service districts within the geographical limits of the metropolitan government, a general services district and an urban services district, as to both of which districts the metropolitan government shall have jurisdiction and authority. The general services district shall consist of the total area of the county. The urban services district shall consist originally of the total area of the principal city at the time of the filing of the proposed charter with the county election commission, together with such area of any smaller cities as may be specified in an appendix duly ratified and adopted under § 7-2-107. In the event additional territory has been added to the principal city by annexation, effective subsequent to the creation of a charter commission or subsequent to the time of the filing of the proposed charter, the metropolitan council is hereby authorized, and it shall be its duty to remove from the total area of the urban services district such areas of the principal city as to which the metropolitan government will not be able to provide substantial urban services within a reasonable period, that shall not be greater than one (1) year after ad valorem taxes in the annexed area become due, and which shall specifically include sanitary sewers within a period that shall not be greater than thirty-six (36) months after ad valorem taxes in the annexed area become due;
(6) That the area of the urban services district may be expanded and its territorial limits extended by annexation whenever particular areas of the general services district come to need urban services and the metropolitan government becomes able to provide such service within a reasonable period. The annexation shall be under provisions and limitations specified in the charter, consistent with those provided by §§ 6-51-101 – 6-51-106;
(7) For the functions of the metropolitan government that shall be performed throughout the entire general services district and the governmental services that shall be rendered in such district;
(8) That the tax levy for the general services district shall be set so as to be sufficient, with other available funds and grants, to defray the cost of all governmental services that are provided generally throughout or on behalf of such district;
(9) For the functions of the metropolitan government that shall be performed within the urban services district and the governmental services that shall be rendered in such district;
(10) That the tax levy for the urban services district shall be set so as to be sufficient, with other available funds and grants, to defray the cost of municipal-type governmental services that are provided within such district;
(11) For a metropolitan council, which shall be the legislative body of the metropolitan government and shall be given all the authority and functions of the governing bodies of the county and cities being consolidated, with such exceptions and with such additional authority as may be specified elsewhere in chapters 1-6 of this title;
(12) For the size, method of election, qualification for holding office, method of removal, term of office and procedures of the metropolitan council, with such other provisions with respect to the council as are normally related to the organization, powers and duties of governing bodies in cities and counties;
(13) For the assignment of administrative and executive functions to officers of the metropolitan government, which officers may be given, subject to such limitations as may be deemed appropriate, all or any part of the administrative and executive functions possessed by the county and cities being consolidated and such additional powers and duties, not inconsistent with general law, as may be deemed necessary or appropriate for the metropolitan government;
(14) For the names or titles of the administrative and executive officers of the metropolitan government, their qualifications, compensation, method of selection, tenure, removal, replacement and such other provisions with respect to such officers, not inconsistent with general law, as may be deemed necessary or appropriate for the metropolitan government;
(15) That the urban services district shall be and constitute a municipal corporation with a three-member urban council, whose sole function shall be a mandatory obligation to levy a property tax adequate with other available funds to finance the budget for urban services, as determined by the metropolitan council. The proposed metropolitan charter shall provide the method of selecting the urban council;
(16) For such administrative departments, agencies, boards and commissions as may be necessary and appropriate to perform the consolidated functions of city and county government in an efficient and coordinated manner and for this purpose for the alteration or abolition of existing city and county offices, departments, boards, commissions, agencies and functions, except where otherwise provided in chapters 1-6 of this title or prohibited by the Constitution of Tennessee;
(17) For the maintenance and administration of an effective civil service system, and also for the consolidation of county and city employees’ retirement and pension systems and the regulation of such consolidated system; provided, that nothing in chapters 1-6 of this title or in a charter adopted pursuant to those provisions shall impair or diminish the rights and privileges of the existing employees under civil service or in the existing county and city employees’ retirement and pension systems;
(18) For the consolidation of the existing school systems with the county and city or cities, including the creation of a metropolitan board of education, which board may be vested with power to appoint a director of schools, if there are no special school districts operating in the county. If one (1) or more special school districts operate within the county, then the metropolitan charter need not provide for the consolidation of the existing school systems. If the school districts are not consolidated, then any special school district shall continue to exist as a separate entity;
(19) For a determination, as between the general services district and the urban services district, of proportionate responsibility for the existing county bonded indebtedness, both countywide and district, and for the existing municipal indebtedness;
(20) For the method and procedure by which the charter may subsequently be amended; provided, that no such amendment shall be effective until submitted to the qualified voters residing within the general services district and approved by a majority of those voters voting on the amendment;
(21) For such procedures, methods and steps as are determined to be necessary or appropriate to effectuate a transition from separate county and city governments into a single metropolitan government in which the functions of county and of city have been consolidated; and
(22) Such terms and provisions as are contained in any private act or municipal charter with respect to any municipally owned utility supported by its own revenues and operated, administered and managed pursuant to the private act or municipal charter; provided, that such terms and provisions of the charter may subsequently be amended pursuant to subdivision (a)(20).
(b) The metropolitan charter may provide for annual assessments of real property.
(c) In each county in this state, without regard to population, the metropolitan charter may provide, in addition to the urban services district and general services district required by subdivision (a)(5), for one (1) or more special service districts within all or any part of the general services district outside the urban services district, for the purpose of furnishing in any part or all of the general services district one (1) or more services that are furnished within the urban services district. If the metropolitan charter provides for special service districts, the following provisions shall apply to the creation, alteration, and taxation of special service districts:

(1) The boundaries of special service districts shall be determined by the metropolitan council and shall become fixed by ordinance of the metropolitan council thirty (30) days or more after notice of the determination of the boundaries of a district has been given to the property owners of the district. Notice shall be given by mailing a description of the boundaries of the district to all of the property owners of record within the district, at their last known address. It shall not be necessary for the boundaries of any special service district to be contiguous with the boundaries of the urban services district. The boundaries of any special service district may be altered at any time by means of the same procedure by which it was created;
(2) The metropolitan council shall levy an annual ad valorem tax upon the property owners of each special service district. The tax shall be set at a rate sufficient to pay that special service district’s share of the total budget of the metropolitan government for the particular service being rendered to the residents and property owners of the district. The tax shall be assessed in the same manner as the general services district tax and collected as an addition to the general services district tax;
(3) Each special service district may be given a name that the metropolitan council deems appropriate, and the boundaries of special service districts may overlap or be coextensive with boundaries of other special service districts;
(4) In the case of special service districts for sanitary sewers, the sanitary sewers shall be furnished to the residents and property owners of the special service districts within thirty-six (36) months after ad valorem taxes in the special service districts become due; and
(5) When substantial urban services are offered within an area served by special service districts, then that area shall become a part of the urban services district under the charter provisions and limitations established pursuant to subdivision (a)(6).
(d) Those counties with populations in excess of four hundred fifty thousand (450,000), according to the 1980 federal census or any subsequent federal census, and having a metropolitan form of government, shall provide that any member of a board, commission or authority created under the charter of a metropolitan government may be removed from office upon a vote of three fourths (3/4) of the members of the governing body of the metropolitan government, but only for good cause shown as set forth in a resolution passed by a three-fourths (3/4) majority vote of the members of the governing body, and only after the holding of a public hearing before the governing body.
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