NoTax4Tracks, a new PAC founded to oppose Mayor Megan “Moonbeam” Barry’s $9 billion transit plan, came out blazing Tuesday, issuing a statement that the proposal will raise Music City’s sales tax to the highest levels in the nation.
Furthermore, the group cites urban planning and traffic study experts that say the costly proposal will not solve Nashville’s traffic challenges.
Last week, the Metro Council voted to place Mayor Barry’s tax increase plan before the voters of Nashville/Davidson County in a referendum to be held on May 1, just three and a half months from now.
Voters in Nashville/Davidson County can expect to see a vigorous battle play out in the news media, on social media sites, on the phone, and in person, as supporters and opponents of the $9 billion transit plan spend what could well be millions of dollars to compete for their votes in May.
The battle was clearly joined within minutes of the release of the NoTax4Tracks statement.
“Transit for Nashville, which is campaigning for Barry’s proposal, slammed the new PAC’s motives,” The Tennessean reported:
“The anti-transit group that has come out in opposition wants to do nothing to help Nashville’s growing traffic problems,” Transit for Nashville spokeswoman Kelly Brockman said. “Instead, they want to stifle it. Nashvillians want something now. They are tired of sitting in traffic wasting time out of their days.”
But NoTax4Tracks pushed back against that characterization.
“We waited to hear if the plan was workable. It’s not. We waited to see if the funding was fair. It’s not. We waited to see if the Metro Council would ask critical questions. They haven’t. So, the time to wait is over,” said NoTax4Tracks PAC supporters in a statement about the new group. “We must now say this is the wrong plan at the wrong time and people should vote no. Those who can least afford it will pay the highest sales tax in the nation for a plan that will not help them with traffic congestion.”
Joe Scarlett, the retired CEO of Tractor Supply Company, agreed, adding:
When you think congestion, you think of the interstates, Green Hills and downtown. You don’t think of a light rail train on Gallatin Pike. That’s why this plan needs to go back, be re-thought with new technologies and new ideas and redone. We agree, traffic congestion needs a plan, but not this plan. There does need to be a Plan B.
David Fox, who was defeated by Barry in a September 2015 runoff election to become Mayor of Nashville by a 55 percent to 45 percent margin, also weighed in on behalf of the NoTax4Tracks’ case against the proposed tax increase.
“I’ve been careful not to make any public comments since the election,” Fox told The Tennessean, adding:
But this plan is such a boondoggle that I felt as a taxpayer I should be willing to talk about it.
From 40,000 feet, the juice isn’t worth the squeeze here. That’s kind of the bottom line.
The NoTax4Tracks statement listed additional issues of concerns with the city’s plan:
- No Regional Financial Participation
- The city has adopted an “if we build it, they will come” strategy. Hope is not a strategy. One of the key issues that needs to be strengthened is regional buy in and participation.
- The city plan calls for $1.5 billion in federal funding will be used. How? The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) has clearly said its budget: “…includes no funding for new CIG projects, and thus project sponsors that do not yet have construction grant agreements acknowledge they are undertaking additional work at their own risk which may not receive CIG funding.” The FTA went even further and said that even though they are: “…continuing to accept and process project applications” for its grants, with the caveat that no money is guaranteed.” No money is guaranteed. So that means that only Davidson County residents will pay for a $9-billion plan. The cost just keeps going up.
- Tourism, with visitation and spending, has made Nashville a global brand, Music City. Tourism has been the economic engine that has made Nashville the “It” city. This plan will clog that engine. From the blasting of a tunnel to the 24/7 rumble of debris trucks downtown to the 20 percent small business tax increases, it will damage a world class lodging and tourism industry. The Music City brand will suffer.
The NoTax4Tracks website cites specific reasons why seniors, commuters, parents, and small businesses in Nashville/Davidson County should vote no on the transit plan referendum:
SENIORS:
Increased sales taxes mean more financial strain for seniors. Of course, Nashville’s transit problems demand solutions, but we believe with better planning the solutions won’t take a toll on seniors with fixed incomes like this plan does.COMMUTERS:
This plan will burden commuters with massive construction for the next 10 years, higher vehicle prices with the sales tax increase, and even then, it will not solve our traffic problems. It also does not take into account the congestion on highways around Nashville. A solution for building light-rail in downtown Nashville is not a solution for all of Davidson County.PARENTS:
The current plan will take more than a decade to complete and generations to pay off. Cutting into tight family budgets and saddling our children with a childhood of construction and a future of high taxes is not fair. If it goes over budget, the plan could also eat away at precious taxpayer resources that fund education and other public services. We need a better plan at a reasonable price.SMALL BUSINESS:
With four separate tax increases to pay for the current plan, small businesses will see both a reduction in business and an increase in business expenses. The tax increase will also shrink the tourism industry that many Nashvillians have come to rely on to provide for their families. We do not need to disrupt business and tourism for 10 or more years, building tunnels and tracks that will not solve our congestion problems.
Vanderbilt Associate Professor of Economics Malcom Getz – an early critic of the proposal – wrote an extensive, 20-page critique of the transit plan, working from the city’s own documents, as introduced, December 11.
Getz’s essay covers four key areas of failure: that transit does not reduce congestion, street railways slow with stops and transfers, car-hailing services and express lanes excel, and few who pay the sales tax get benefits.
The Vandy professor writes:
The [Transit Improvement Program] TIP report does not identify the primary beneficiaries of the transit improvement program. It does not consider measures of finance that would allow the primary beneficiaries of the program to bear more of its costs. An increase in the property tax in the Central Business Improvement District would be an example. Special property tax districts along the rail corridors would be another possibility. Instead, transit proponents propose tax reductions for real estate developments in the rail corridors through the Transit Oriented Development District legislation. These tax subsidies increase the share of Metro public services paid for by taxpayers who are not subsidized. That is to say, the principal beneficiaries will pay less for the transit improvement than people of similar circumstance who are distant from the railroads.
Understanding the transit taxes helps identify who gains and who pays. The TIP report (pp. 39-43) describes the four taxes that will pay for the transit initiative. A 44% increase in the local option sales pushes the rate from 2.25 to 3.25 percent of retail sales by 2023. These taxes will last for a long time. The sales tax will generate about $225M in 2023, a little less than 94% of the total transit tax revenue. The tax on the gross income of businesses, hotel fees, and rental car fees complete the total transit tax sources. The burden of these taxes falls primarily on local residents and local businesses.
Apart from the sales, rental car, and business tax increases contained in the City’s proposal, the hotel tax is what will put Nashville on the map:
The hotel tax increases from 6.0 percent to 6.375 percent by 2023. This tax will yield about $6M in 2023, a little less than three percent of the total transit tax revenue. Hotels in the convention business will bear the burden of both the added hotel and sales taxes. Professional convention managers solicit bids from several cities. Among cities able to offer the necessary services, the manager will choose a city with the lowest hotel room rate for a large block of rooms, inclusive of all taxes. Any increase in sales and hotel tax causes the hotels to accept a lower room rate net of taxes. In this setting, the hotels bear the tax through lower prices, not the conventioneers who pay the bills. Tourists are also quite sensitive to prices. Hotels and other businesses in the convention and tourism business will bear most of the burden of the hotel and sales taxes that appear on their bills. Nashville’s total of sales plus hotel tax will be 16.625% in 2023. Las Vegas has the highest rate in 2015 at 18%. In 2015, nineteen of 150 large cities in 2015 had total lodging tax rates above Nashville’s proposed rate.
(emphasis added)
[pdf-embedder url=”https://tennesseestar.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/NoTax4Tracks_Critique-of-Transit_E.pdf”]
[…] an adage many students learn in an introductory economics course. Perhaps that adage could apply to Mayor Megan Barry’s $9 billion transit plan as […]
Well according to a Nashville political source here’s some information the public does not know… the numbers have already been calculated that Davidson County will have 500 less students in public schools this next year. That calculates to a $7M deficit loss for Davidson County Schools. The 2% of taxes that were going to schools will be diverted to the new transit plan-who gets to make that decision after we all had to vote for it. SO AGAIN the Schools get jilted. I’m not sure the schools have actually ever seen one penny of the gas taxes that were supposed to be going there and now they will have another deficit. Add to that the news of Nashville building a MLS Soccer stadium….I say ENOUGH! The transit plan is only going to benefit the few downtown as well as tear up the streets forever. This plan does not do anything to help the suburbs. And how about we collect taxes from those thousands of people who work in Nashville and tear up the streets but live in other counties and other states? PS how about we get tag and tax money from cyclists who use the streets. They should be just like sailboats are to the water—they may have no engine but cyclist still expect others to keep up the streets for them and to have their own lane. How about they be required to take a cycle safety class, have proper lights (tail and front) and have a tag/sticker on the bike to be able to be in the lane renewable each year. In my town the bike lane is used by skateboarders….can you sense the frustration….sure explains why people are exiting Davidson County…check out the current property tax rates…Davidson Co. 4.58, Sumner 2.59, Robertson 2.66….and that’s just on property…don’t blame them for moving!!!!!!!
[…] departments for a $13.2 million Nashville General Hospital bailout as well as plans to spend $9 billion on a transit plan. The word “hypocritical” was used in connection to Barry asking taxpayers and Metro government […]
[…] Mayor Megan Barry’s mass transit plan, which could take two decades to complete and cost nearly $9 billion. For all that, the plan as-is may not have all that much of an effect on actual congestion, the […]
EXACTLY! The Bottleneck design of the Interstates is only about three decades behind N, so get our DC Leaders to do something about that problem. Nashvilles growth. The Federal Government funds our Interstates. Fix the Problem, not burden Davidson and surrounding Counties with extra taxes so Moonbeam Berry can try to make Nashville look like San Francisco, but at High speeds, so she can dole out Building Permits to her Upper crust price Home builder Buddies.
Why not add more lanes to the interstate ?
[…] concerns were briefly outlined by The Tennessee Star on Wednesday. Expanding on them, the former mayoral candidate said his […]
Barry think’s shes so damn beautiful. Ugh!!!
There’s a reason I call Megan Barry, Mayor Moonbeam. Like the California socialist Jerry Brown, she is never so happy as when she’s devising a plan that will increase taxes and bring hardship instead of help to the poor of the city who need affordable housing, the elderly on fixed incomes, the small business owners who are opening shops all over town that add color and flavor for the tourists pouring in.
These Moonbeams are like two progressive peas in a pod.
Here’s a link to the boondoggle train Jerry Brown fought for and foreshadows what will happen to Megan Barry’s’ project. https://www.frontpagemag.com/point/269052/worst-case-scenario-hits-california-train-nowhere-daniel-greenfield
Anyone who drives in rush hour traffic on our interstates and has seen her plan can attest to the fact that it doesn’t really address the commuter “mess” that ties traffic in knots. So, we’ll pay billions and still sit in bumper to bumper traffic.
I did note that the plan shows what is to become the new soccer stadium promoted by one of our elitist billionaires is on the light rail line. This fairground area is already showing signs of gentrification and Barry’s plan will accelerate that process. Goodbye low income renters and elderly home owners, hello wealthy newcomers who can afford the new $400,000 homes.
Many thanks to Lee Beaman for spearheading this effort. I fervently hope we can stop Mayor Moonbeam’s boondoggle and next time around we will elect a mayor who has the intelligence and understanding to find creative ways to solve our traffic problems without four tax increases, bankrupting the city and killing the tourist goose that laid the golden egg for Music City.
All you have to do is look at MARTA in Fulton Co (Atlanta). It was built and is barely still used. Mostly people use it to go to ballgames downtown or to the airport. Even today, ATL traffic is a nightmare from 6:30am-9am and then it starts again about 2:30pm-7pm.The surrounding Counties never agreed to pay for it so what did they do instead? They built “Park and Ride” lots nearest a train station, charge a very small fee for the shuttle and their residents get to use MARTA for the small cost of a shuttle and roundtrip ticket. No taxes ad infinitum–that is the same thing that will happen here.
The tunnel idea is a joke, taking lanes of traffic already clogged and using as a train rail is absolutely insane.
I will get on board with these anti people, saw this all unfold once and MARTA didnt do a damn thing to change any traffic but still, after decades, has to be subsidized in one county because it will never be self-supporting (just like the Music City Star)
I live in a suburban Nashville county yet I just sent a contribution to No Tax 4 Tracks. The time to kill this monster transportation plan is in its infancy in Davidson County because if it survives there it most certainly is going to spread to the suburbs.
Everone that thinks this would be a good idea for nashville has never lived in states like New York or miami Florida , Miami has a system called the Tri Rail. Which runs from West Palm Beach to Miami fl ,it has helped but the congestion is critical there ,New York has subway system and look at there congestion ,this is just 2 systems ,and nither one of these has taken care of the congestion on the roads ,as more people move to Nashvile how does a commuter rail system help,does not helpthe traffic flowing in and out of the city, will it help with the amount of the 18 wheelers on the streets and highways ,I do not think so , issues like this should be addressed as well ,in a city like nashville where you have lots of new people moveing here ,traffic coming from ,memphis,chatt,knoxville ,and alabama,thes highways interloop with nashville ,a commuter train is not the solution running along side of gallatin rd ,someone please let me know how that helps , all i see is lots of taxes,and more rd congestion while this is being built and no relief when it is finished ,
As a Sumner County resident I am totally against my county participating in Mayor Berry’s misrepresented sham. I will do all I can to prevent Sumner County from participating in this transit plan. If Nashville/Davidson County residents are dumb enough to fall for this, then they can choke on it.