UPDATED WITH VIDEO: Murfreesboro, TN - Rutherford County property owners may soon be checking their mailboxes for unexpected tax bills—or refunds—after Tennessee Comptroller Jason Mumpower delivered a scathing report to county commissioners Thursday night. The findings? He suggested that one in four property assessments were wrong, and the county’s entire appraisal process was described as “riddled with errors.” Mumpower said the problems began coming to light quite some time ago... Evidently, the gateway of issues was noticed in new construction... “There is not one property-owning taxpayer in Rutherford County that should have any degree of confidence in their property assessment,” Mumpower said.
The state’s review of 8,683 parcels uncovered missing buildings, misfiled property changes, and incorrect square footage... In one example, two nearly identical homes had a $217,000 difference in appraised value—costing one homeowner over $1,000 annually in excess taxes.
Another example highlighted the upstairs and downstairs of a home...
Mumpower warned commissioners that thousands of residents could be affected, and their phones would likely start ringing. He also revealed that some public records were deleted during the investigation. Despite multiple chances to correct the issues, the assessor’s office was found in noncompliance and responded by suing the state—a suit that was later dismissed.
Another example focused on a shed that was built next to a home...
Commissioner Wayne Irvin pushed back, calling the report “clearly slanted.” Mumpower didn’t flinch: “It is only slanted in the direction of the truth on behalf of your Rutherford County taxpayers.”
With election season approaching, residents are asking whether the current assessor, Rob Mitchell, will seek reelection. As of now, there’s no legal barrier preventing him from running again. But with the state recommending a full third-party review of all 130,000+ parcels and a switch to state appraisal software, the pressure is mounting.
Rutherford County Assessor of Property Rob Mitchell wrote to county commissioners on Sunday night, Oct. 19, 2025: “It is unfortunate that the information which I have requested since late September/early October regarding this presentation has been refused . Just as every request to review specific accounts with the Comptroller's staff, has been denied for the last year and a half.
It appears it was sent to the county mayor for his personal dissemination.
Sending out personal attacks on citizens, without knowing their veracity prior to making such allegations public, is a reckless and bold move. Sending it from the a government account, under color of office and tagging an unrelated email from a sitting city councilman is even more disturbing. It reeks of a viscous,unprofessional demeanor ill suited for a leadership position or an office of trust.
Advice from my legal council is to not respond to such scurrilous provocations. However, you deserve to know what you have not been told. A half truth is the biggest lie of all, especially if it's deliberately slanted.
Our county attorney has provided legal counsel to my office on many subjects. He has counseled us on some of the codes and rules which are in dispute. He is fully aware of the responsibilities my office is bound to uphold.
Unfortunately bad information was provided on Thursday night. The presenter lacked all the information necessary to answer questions accurately. One basic question he was unable to answer was "where can we get this information"? He directed inquiries to the assessor's office. Getting it from our office was not the correct answer. However, we will attempt to comply. The data is stored on shared files at the Comptroller's Division of Property Assessments server. Our access to that data, which is scattered across multiple Microsoft shared files each with their own permissions, is problematic.
When asked about the sketching standards they used to determine there were sketching errors, the presenter said, "we use the same sketching protocol in Rutherford County we use statewide". This is an example of one of several hundred we returned because they were wrong.” (Click Here to See or Click Below Graphic):
Mitchell wrote, “If you believe he is telling the truth: It appears they use Redfin and Zillow to verify square footages statewide and are comfortable instructing our office to inflate the square footage on approximately 10,000 to 20,000 1.5 story Cape Cod style homes in Rutherford county. How many of these statewide are inflated?
I cautioned the presenter that there should be a collaborative approach to this before our Commission and citizens were unduly alarmed. That rational advice was ignored.
Since at least 2022 I have sought guidance on measurements and Division of Property Assessment standards. Here is an email for your examination." (Click Here to See or Click Below Graphic):
- Video above this article is from the October 16, 2025 presentation to the Rutherford County Commission.
