Finance Department
The Finance Department is your point of entry to City Hall. The receptionist and front office staff will work hard to make your experience with the City fast, efficient and pleasant!
The Finance Department is responsible for personal and business tax collection, licensing and permit payments, issuance of beer permits, water and sewer payments and other receivables.
Behind the scenes, the Finance Department is responsible for accounts payable, accounts receivable, purchasing administration, budget development, maintaining City archives and overseeing all aspects of City finances.
Taxes
Licensing & Permits
Purchasing
Taxes
Taxes serve three primary functions: generating revenue to finance government goods and services; redistributing income; and controlling demand for services. The City of Sevierville finance department is responsible for accepting and receipting revenue for the following taxes:
Property Tax – Property tax is a tax on certain kinds of wealth: real and personal property. The tax rate is applied to an assessment of the value of the taxable property. The assessed value ideally reflects a percentage of the actual value of the property involved. City property taxes are billed out for payment on October 1st and can be paid anytime thereafter, but no later than February 28th of the next calendar year. The current city tax rate is .31 cents per one hundred dollars of assessed value. Any adjustments to assessments must be made by the County tax assessor, whose office is located at the Sevier County Court House (865) 453-5502.
Business Tax – The City of Sevierville is authorized to collect a tax on the privilege of conducting a business within the city limits. Any business owner subject to the tax must register with the city, pay the appropriate tax and obtain a business license. Businesses are divided into one of five classes. The rate of retail and/or wholesale tax and the renewal date for each business holding a license will depend upon its classification.
Hotel/Motel Tax – The City receives a monthly hotel/motel occupancy tax. This tax is 2% of the monthly net taxable proceeds from any hotel, motel, cabin, etc., or that which is occupied by transients for a period of less than 30 days within the Sevierville City limits.
Beer Tax – Beer Privilege Tax comes from every person, firm, corporation, joint stock company, syndicate or association in the City of Sevierville who stores, sells, distributes or manufactures beer. This is a $100 annual tax, due no later than January 31 each year. Beer Wholesalers Tax is paid by the beer distributors, and equals 5% of total amounts sold to each retailer, and is paid to the City monthly.
Sales Tax – Sales tax in the City of Sevierville is 9.5% on the dollar. The revenue is broken down and disbursed as follows:
7% to the State of Tennessee
1¼% to the
Sevier County School System
1¼% to City
of Sevierville
Licensing & Permits
The Finance Department issues City of Sevierville business licenses, beer permits, and receipts revenue for sign and building permits. Please click on the appropriate link for more information.
Business License
Transient Vendor Business License
Beer Permit
Business License - The City of Sevierville is authorized to collect a tax on the privilege of conducting a business within the city limits. Any business owner must register with the city, pay the application license fee of $20, and obtain a business license. A separate county license must be obtained as well, through the County Court Clerk, located at the Sevier County Court House (865) 453-5502.
For a city business license, the application, a five-dollar recording fee and a minimum tax fee of $15 must be received by the finance department no later than 20 days after commencement of a business. In addition, a business license must be closed out within 15 days after the closing of a business. Extra penalty and interest will accrue upon the opening or closing of a business license, if not recorded in the timeline specified.
The business owner must be able to provide a state sales tax number, a social security number or a tax ID number in order to have the application processed. Businesses are divided into one of five classes, depending upon what services or goods the business provides. The rate of retail and/or wholesale tax and the renewal date for each business holding a city license will depend upon the class in which they are placed, and range from 1/10 to 1/40 of 1% of taxable sales.
After the business owner has paid the gross receipts tax at the end of the license period, a new license will be issued. A penalty of 5% per month is assessed on the total amount due for any payment that is not made before the delinquent date, up to a maximum of 25% of the original gross tax due. Any business engaged in one of the five classifications will have a minimum tax of fifteen dollars, and a five-dollar recording fee, yearly.
To view this
file, you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader. Free download:
Transient Vendor Business License - “Transient Vendor” refers to any person who temporarily brings merchandise into the city limits for the purpose of selling to the public. Transient vendors shall pay a tax of fifty dollars ($50.00 plus a $5.00 recording fee) to the City of Sevierville for each fourteen- day period in which they will be offering merchandise for sale to the public. As with the regular business license, a transient vendor’s license is also required by the county, which can be obtained from the Clerk of Court at the Sevier County Court House (865) 453-5502.
The same application that is used for the regular business license is also used for acquiring a transient vendors license, and can be obtained from City Hall, or downloaded from this web site.
To view this file, you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader. Free download:
Transient Vendor Business License Application
Beer Permit - Persons wishing to sell, store for sale, distribute for sale, or manufacture beer within the city must obtain a permit from the City Beer Board. This process starts by obtaining an application for a beer permit and a copy of the City Beer Ordinance from the City Recorder’s office.
This application must be filled out, notarized, and then returned to the City Recorder’s office with payment of a $500 application fee. Prior to fee payment, an applicant should review the various requirements related to the sale of beer. The application, a background check, and verification of requirements outlined in the beer ordinance are compiled by the City Recorder, who schedules a meeting of the Beer Board.
Due to processing and public notice requirements, beer permit applications must be received by the third Friday of the month for consideration during the following month. Beer Board meetings are generally called on the second Tuesday of the month.
The Beer Board considers the application and either grants or refuses a permit according to compliance with the City Beer Ordinance. Compliance issues include:
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Distance of establishment from churches and schools
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Zoning of establishment
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Minimum seating for on-premise permit
Active permit holders are subject to an annual $100 privilege tax, prorated for the first year and payable in January of each subsequent year.
Purchasing
The City of Sevierville’s Purchasing Department is responsible for handling the processing of all accounts payable. This includes reconciling purchase orders, researching statements, preparing payments for a weekly check run and setting up new vendors.
If you are interested in providing goods or services to the City, please forward relevant information to the Purchasing Department with a request to be added to the active vendor list.
When the City of Sevierville is required to purchase goods/services under the sealed bid process, the Purchasing Department will create the bid packages, open the sealed bids in a public forum and present the information to the requesting department head for their recommendation to Council.
