MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — The City of Murfreesboro will be conducting a feasibility study of annexing the 809-acre property that includes Middle Point Landfill, located at 750-870 East Jefferson Pike, to determine the demands on City services and the full benefits of its annexation. The property is located adjacent to and east of Walter Hill Park which is in the City Limits. Browning-Ferris Industries Inc (BFI) and Jefferson Pike Landfill Inc (JPL) agreed to not oppose annexation in the terms of a 1995 agreement with the City to provide sanitary sewer service to this property outside the City.
City Planning staff will study the annexation proposal and query City and County departments, government agencies, and utility providers to gather information for analysis of the potential annexation.
“The City Planning Department will prepare a Plan of Services to analyze the City’s ability to provide City services including Fire, Police, Parks, Zoning, Planning, Codes, Transportation, Schools and other services routinely provided to properties inside the City,” said Director of Land Management and Planning, Ben Newman. “The Plan of Services will be an essential part of an overall feasibility study that will examine the benefits and demands of annexing the 800-acre parcel.”
The 809-acre site, which includes the 200-acre Middle Point Landfill owned and operated by BFI Waste Systems, LLC of Tennessee with parent company Republic Services, contains leachate, stormwater, and landfill gas management facilities; entry gate and scale house; a Rutherford County Solid Waste Convenience Center; and offices, outdoor storage areas, and shop buildings for waste management operations as well as a community park with sports and recreation fields. Landfill leachate is pretreated on-site before being discharged to the City sewer system via on-site pump station.
BFI/Republic Services had previously applied for a 99-acre expansion to the north of the landfill; however, recently those plans have been abandoned. BFI/Republic are now proposing a similar sized expansion between the County’s closed landfills and the existing Middle Point Landfill.
On Jan. 30, 2025, Mayor Shane McFarland joined Rutherford County Mayor Joe Carr in a joint statement proposing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) regarding future use of the Rutherford County landfill and the County’s and City’s long-term solid waste needs. The annexation study does not include the Rutherford County Emergency Services Building nor the Rutherford County Landfill both located on County-owned property adjacent to the Middle Point property.
As part of the feasibility study, City staff will query other agencies and utility providers, including Middle Tennessee Electric (MTE), Consolidated Utility District (CUD), and several Rutherford County government departments and agencies that work and operate within the City limits to determine the impact of the proposed annexation.
The current Rutherford County Tax Appraisal indicates the property is appraised at over $10 million and has a taxable assessment of just over $4 million. City property taxes is based on the City Property Tax Rate of 0.9526 per $100 of assessed value or approximately $40,000 annually.
Under State law, sales tax, if any, will be embargoed by the State and reserved for Rutherford County for 15 years following annexation at the base amount at the time of annexation.
