Does Cookeville occupy two counties? (Memphis, Chattanooga: real estate, homeowners insurance, house)

[leoboy]

In doing home searches it appears that Cookeville occupies both Putnam and Overton counties. Is that true? If so, what if any are differences in tax structure etc? Thanks!

[Jhubtin]

Not sure about Cookeville. But we have a Monterey address which is in Putnam County even though our home is in Overton County.

[JMT]

Originally Posted by leoboy

In doing home searches it appears that Cookeville occupies both Putnam and Overton counties. Is that true? If so, what if any are differences in tax structure etc? Thanks!

Cookeville lies entirely in Putnam County. But Cookeville's two ZIP codes (38501 and 38506) do spill into Overton, Jackson, and White counties. The post office stats show that about 60,000 people live within Cookeville's two ZIP codes, but only about 45-50,000 of them are in Putnam County.

[mrradio]

Cookeville is a city with its own property tax. Residents of Cookeville therefore pay a city property tax and a property tax to Putnam County. Residents of the county who live outside the city limits but not within another taxing jurisdiction pay only Putnam County property taxes. There are other taxing jurisdictions within Putnam County such as Algood (part of the 38506 zip), etc.

[Milo Bloom]

Here's a list of TN cities that occupy more than one county:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...ties#Tennessee

[KC38506]

Alot of real estate listings will say "Cookeville" even though they are in Overton County so they'll get more hits on a property search. Cookeville is only in Putnam County, but "Cookeville" on a real estate web site could mean Cookeville or Algood city limits, or outside the city limits but still in the county, or just over the county line into Overton, Jackson, or White County. Compare the listing with a county map to be sure where it's located. Also, you'll want to see where a place is. A house might look nice but be next to a dump since we don't have county zoning laws. "Don't buy a pig in a poke" is a good TN expression that would apply!

[JMT]

Originally Posted by KC38506

Alot of real estate listings will say "Cookeville" even though they are in Overton County so they'll get more hits on a property search. Cookeville is only in Putnam County, but "Cookeville" on a real estate web site could mean Cookeville or Algood city limits, or outside the city limits but still in the county, or just over the county line into Overton, Jackson, or White County. Compare the listing with a county map to be sure where it's located. Also, you'll want to see where a place is. A house might look nice but be next to a dump since we don't have county zoning laws. "Don't buy a pig in a poke" is a good TN expression that would apply!

Yeah that drives me crazy about some of the real estate listings. When I move to Cookeville I'll most likely want to live in the city limits, but the real estate listings rarely indicate if it's in the city or not, and unless you see a map and are familiar with the area it's not always easy to tell. And some of the real estate maps don't even tell you what county it's in.

But it is amazing to see the change. When I first went to Cookeville in 1975 it was a one-horse town, and no one in Jackson or Overton or White counties said they lived in "Cookeville." But now many of them do, and in fact the only growth taking place in Jackson, Overton and White counties is right outside of Cookeville, for the most part. Very interesting.

[kdavis]

I was born and raised in White Co. I can remember when Cookeville, (putnam) Sparta (white) and Crossville (Cumberland) were all about the same size.
You are wrong about the only grouth being right outside cookeville, I can speak for White co more than the others and it is growing county wide FAST!
Don't understand why you would want to live in Cookeville city limits and pay city tax. You can drive from Sparta to Cookeville in app. 20 min. If you get just outside Cookeville city limits you could be downtown in 5-10 min.
Personally I like the small town atmosphere of Sparta with the larger town shopping of Cookeville 20 min away.
The addresses and the county are so confusing because the Realtors get their information from Tax maps. Don't blame them.
If you want to know if a address is in the city limits or not I would be glad to help. Just e-mail me @ kdavis_erg@yahoo.com.

Originally Posted by JMT

Yeah that drives me crazy about some of the real estate listings. When I move to Cookeville I'll most likely want to live in the city limits, but the real estate listings rarely indicate if it's in the city or not, and unless you see a map and are familiar with the area it's not always easy to tell. And some of the real estate maps don't even tell you what county it's in.

But it is amazing to see the change. When I first went to Cookeville in 1975 it was a one-horse town, and no one in Jackson or Overton or White counties said they lived in "Cookeville." But now many of them do, and in fact the only growth taking place in Jackson, Overton and White counties is right outside of Cookeville, for the most part. Very interesting.

[JMT]

Originally Posted by kdavis

I was born and raised in White Co. I can remember when Cookeville, (putnam) Sparta (white) and Crossville (Cumberland) were all about the same size.
You are wrong about the only grouth being right outside cookeville, I can speak for White co more than the others and it is growing county wide FAST!
Don't understand why you would want to live in Cookeville city limits and pay city tax. You can drive from Sparta to Cookeville in app. 20 min. If you get just outside Cookeville city limits you could be downtown in 5-10 min.
Personally I like the small town atmosphere of Sparta with the larger town shopping of Cookeville 20 min away.
The addresses and the county are so confusing because the Realtors get their information from Tax maps. Don't blame them.
If you want to know if a address is in the city limits or not I would be glad to help. Just e-mail me @ kdavis_erg@yahoo.com.

I like living in a town, I like living where I can walk to do most of my errands: banks, grocery store, eat out, coffee shops, farmers market, art galleries, museums, library, theater, concerts, post office, dry cleaners, doctors' visits, parks, hardware, nice clothing stores, bakeries, etc. All of that can be done in downtown Cookeville, and there aren't too many small towns like that anymore. Even many larger towns don't have downtowns that are as convenient and pedestrian-friendly as Cookeville's.

Cookeville's property tax rate is slightly lower than Sparta's. But you're right, Sparta is a quaint town with a nice little downtown area that's been fixed up. As far as new housing in White County, I don't live there so all I can go on is what I've seen. And I've seen quite a few new housing developments between Sparta and Cookeville, but not much south of Sparta or east of Sparta. There are a few west of Sparta near Center Hill Lake. And since White County's total population isn't growing very fast according to the Census bureau, I'm just assuming that the northern part of White County is where the bulk of the growth is occurring.

[firepower]

Originally Posted by kdavis

I was born and raised in White Co. I can remember when Cookeville, (putnam) Sparta (white) and Crossville (Cumberland) were all about the same size.
You are wrong about the only grouth being right outside cookeville, I can speak for White co more than the others and it is growing county wide FAST!
Don't understand why you would want to live in Cookeville city limits and pay city tax. You can drive from Sparta to Cookeville in app. 20 min. If you get just outside Cookeville city limits you could be downtown in 5-10 min.
Personally I like the small town atmosphere of Sparta with the larger town shopping of Cookeville 20 min away.
The addresses and the county are so confusing because the Realtors get their information from Tax maps. Don't blame them.
If you want to know if a address is in the city limits or not I would be glad to help. Just e-mail me @ kdavis_erg@yahoo.com.

So you are saying you'd rather live outside of ANY city corporate limits?
Cause if you're saying Sparta is cheaper than Cookeville it's not.As the matter of fact Sparta's property taxes are WAY higher than Cookeville's. 44 cents higher in fact...
Some of the advantages of living in Cookeville city? Garbage pick up,sewer system(for most),about 30 more police officers/quicker response time,a paid fire department with 4 stations/and much quicker response time;A fire department that also has an ISO rating of class 2 which,along with only Memphis & Chattanooga is the lowest in the state.This compared with the Putnam County fire rating of class 9.That alone should cut your homeowners insurance by more than half,maybe making up the difference in taxes right there.
So there are some advantages...

firepower