At least two citizen-led efforts are underway to fight back against Nashville Mayor John Cooper’s proposed 32 percent property tax increase.
Cooper unveiled his $2.447 billion budget for the fiscal year 2021 – an increase of $332 million over the current year late last month, The Tennessee Star reported.
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A new Triton poll finds decidedly liberal Davidson County is solidly against Mayor John Cooper’s proposed 32 percent property tax hike. The poll is available here. It was conducted last Thursday and Friday by Triton Polling & Research and was paid for by Nashville Smart, a local 501(c)(4). Lonnie Spivak, an election expert, is with Nashville Smart. He spoke with The Tennessee Star about the poll Monday. Spivak also will be on Tuesday morning’s The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 am to 8:00 am. On Monday, Spivak said Nashville Smart, as a 501(c)(4), has no position on whether the tax increase should pass, and that it commissioned the poll for informational purposes. “We wanted to judge what the public opinion of the tax increase is going into the budget season,” Spivak said. “Metro Council doesn’t have the resources to poll.” The Triton poll sampled 769 registered voters, with 53.5 percent identifying as Democrat, 28.8 percent Republican, 15.3 percent Independent and 2.4 percent Not Sure/Undecided. Mayor Cooper had a 47.1 percent favorable rating, 25.6 percent unfavorable, and 25.7 had heard of him but had no opinion. Regarding Cooper’s…
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Former Vanderbilt professor Dr. Carol Swain joined host Leahy live in-studio on Music Row in Nashville, Tennessee Thursday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m.
During the second hour, Swain reflected upon her recent meeting with Mayor John Cooper and a few other prominent citizens to discuss ways to cut city budget costs and eliminate the need for an immediate 32% property tax increase. She somberly expressed how Cooper seemed more concerned about optics than he did about the citizens of Davidson County.
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A new poll from Vanderbilt University claims the approval rating for Mayor John Cooper is “sky high,” but only 19 percent of respondents said they identify as Republicans.
Another 45 percent of respondents said they identify as Democrats, while 26 percent said they are Independents and 10 percent said they are “something else.” Only 21 percent said their political views are “very conservative” or “conservative,” compared to 30 percent who said they are “liberal” or “very liberal.” Forty-eight percent said their political views are “moderate.”
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Live from Music Row Tuesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – Leahy was joined in the studio by Tennessee state Senator Kerry Roberts (R-Springfield).
During the second hour, Roberts and Leahy discussed Metro Nashville’s reluctance to cut state costs while marveling at the insensitivity of Mayor John Cooper’s ill-timed property tax increase proposal.
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Nashville Mayor John Cooper signed an executive order Monday that requires anyone who enters a government building to wear a face mask.
Under the order, any employee or visitor must wear a face covering while inside any building or “indoor space” that is owned, managed, or leased by the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County.
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Monday morning on the Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – host Leahy was joined in the studio by Carmichael and on the newsmakers line by Metro Council member At-Large Steve Glover. During the third hour, Glover expressed concern over the proposed 32% property tax hike stating that the consequences will be devastating. He added that we can’t keep going to the taxpayers to fix the problems of Metro Nashville government and instead need to work from the inside out. Leahy: On the line with us is our good friend and metro council member-at-large, Steve Glover. Steve, Mayor Cooper wants to increase property taxes by 32%. I’m seeing reports that you don’t like that very much. Glover: Well and I’m seeing the opposite. From what everybody is telling me on the council everybody is good with that. I guess we have conflicting information. Leahy: What do you say about it? Glover: Ha! Leahy: Do you have a plan? Glover: What do you think I say? No. There is no way in the world at 32%. If we do that it will be so devastating…
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On Friday’s Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed the owner of Nashville Boutique Venues Dan Cook to the newsmakers line.
During the third hour, Cook explained where his business falls in the convoluted phases of reopening in Nashville stating that he has been unable to get anywhere at Mayor John Cooper’s office and in desperation has reached out to local media.
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Nashville has suffered the steepest drop in consumer spending of any major metropolitan area in the U.S due to COVID-19, according to a report Wednesday in the Nashville Business Journal.
The Journal used information obtained from Harvard’s new Opportunity Insights Economic Tracker, working with Brown University and the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation to pull data from a variety of sources.
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Monday morning on the Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – Leahy was joined in studio by all-star panelist Crom Carmichael.
At the end of the third hour, Carmichael discussed how Illinois is a government fiscally out of control even though it is one of the highest taxed states in America. He warned that if Nashville doesn’t fix its obvious ails that the city will go by the way of Illinois’s financial ruin.
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Mayor John Cooper’s budget for the 2021 Fiscal Year (FY) includes a five percent increase in spending, which will come at the expense of Nashville property owners by way of a 32 percent property tax increase.
The record-high budget of $2.45 billion is Cooper’s first, and comes on the heels of a devastating tornado on March 3 and during a worldwide coronavirus pandemic which resulted in major losses of personal property and income for Nashvillians.
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Live from Music Row Thursday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – Leahy was joined on the newsmakers line by all-star panelist Dr. Carol Swain.
During the second hour, Swain weighed in on Mayor Cooper’s handling of the shutdown and how he is not making good on his promises that he ran on. She believes that it is a poor time to increase property taxes and that this is a perfect example of what it would be like to live under a Democratic Party rule.
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NASHVILLE, Tennessee – A group of business owners, employees and musicians gathered Tuesday outside Metro Nashville City Hall to protest Mayor John Cooper’s ongoing safer-at-home order.
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Mayor John Cooper’s proposed 32 percent property tax increase is a terrible idea and would be detrimental to the city of Nashville, potentially creating a chilling effect across Middle Tennessee. An increase of such magnitude would bring additional pain and suffering to untold thousands of Nashvillians already harmed by the government-mandated COVID-19 lockdown and the tornado that preceded it.
Decisions about tax increases should be delayed until next spring. After the Mayor has made significant cuts and structural changes in Metro government. It also must come after Mayor Cooper has hosted townhall meetings in every Nashville neighborhood. At such times he can educate voters about what he will have done to cut spending and exactly how he will operate the city in a fiscally conservative manner.
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Towards the end of the third hour of Monday’s Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy, The Beacon Center’s Marks Cunningham weighed in on Mayor Cooper’s proposed 32% property tax increase stating that it was the wrong time to be doing this to the citizens of Nashville in lieu of the government-mandated shutdown and recent tornado destruction. He suggested that government cuts and freezes need to be put on the table if they are going to hinder small businesses while corporate businesses receive tax breaks and incentives.
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As the economic shutdowns related to the COVID-19 pandemic continue on and the start of the upcoming fiscal year on July 1 draws near, Tennessee’s government leaders are laying out their response to the financial impact.
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Metro Nashville departments have submitted requests for the upcoming fiscal year 2021 budget totaling 861 new full-time equivalent (FTE) positions and increases funding by staggering $144 million.
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Broadcasting live from Music Row Wednesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – Leahy was joined on the phone by all-star panelist Crom Carmichael.
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Nashville Mayor John Cooper announced a sweeping “Safer at Home” order Sunday aimed at limiting community spread of COVID-19 in Davidson County.
The order requires all non-essential businesses to shut, beginning on Monday, March 23, and for residents to remain in their homes for all but the most necessary activities for the next two weeks until April 6.
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Nashville Mayor John Cooper confirmed a case of coronavirus on Sunday, making it the third in Tennessee, coming the same day Shelby County announced a case.
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Live from Nashville, Tennessee Thursday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m.– Leahy was joined in studio by former Vanderbilt and Princeton professor Dr. Carol Swain.
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Nashville Mayor John Cooper has been no fan of Nashville’s major league soccer team on the Fairgrounds Nashville site.
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In a special interview, Thursday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 am to 8:00 am – Leahy was joined by former Vanderbilt professor and former Nashville mayoral candidate, Dr. Carol Swain to discuss her recent visit with Mayor John Cooper.
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No one knows how much the Davidson County Sheriff’s Department that is under development will cost in the end — not even the city office responsible for the construction and which now says the project may stop.
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Lady Antebellum, Clint Black and Mac McAnally to be Inducted into Music City Walk of Fame; Chet Atkins and DeFord Bailey to be Honored with Stars.
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Live from music row Tuesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 am to 8:00 am – Leahy welcomed in-studio guest Melissa Smithson, Chairman of the Davidson County Republican Party to the show to speak about her new show on Fox News 17 and Mayor Cooper’s recension of ex-Mayor Briley’s illegal executive order that demanded Metro employees NOT cooperate with ICE officials.
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