Forest Hills residents do not pay any taxes to the City. As residents of Davidson County, Forest Hills citizens pay property taxes to Nashville / Davidson County only. That money is not shared with Forest Hills. Residents will never pay money to the City unless they develop property or build a house, pool, accessory building or improve/change their property in some way. The fees are assessed only so that the City can recoup its expenses.

How the City is Funded

The largest portion of our revenue is a share of the taxes assessed by the State of Tennessee. The largest revenue item is sales tax. It has two parts: the state and local option. The state’s portion is 7%. The local option sales tax is adopted in cities and counties. In Davidson County, it is 2.25%. The state shares a portion of its 7% based on a per capita basis.

The local option sales tax differs in that it is returned to the city and county where the tax was originally collected. By state law, half of that is spent on education and the other half is returned to the local government. Forest Hills has very few retail businesses within its boundaries but enjoys some revenue from this source.