Despite Nashville voters passing the $6.9 billion Choose How You Move transit referendum proposed by Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell, the mayor now seeks additional transit spending through the metro’s annual Capital Spending Plan (CSP).
O’Connell first proposed his $527 million CSP last Wednesday, with the mayor stating his proposed spending will “prepare us for the work to come from Choose How You Move.”
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In a Monday announcement, Metro Nashville Mayor John Cooper introduced his proposal for next year’s budget. Areas of emphasis in the plan include nearly $100 million in new operating spending for Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS), an increase in first responder pay, and and $50 million to increase Metro employees’ wages.
Mayor Cooper touted the financial successes of his term in his State of the Metro Address, in which he argued that public investments must keep up with private sector growth in the city. He listed four metrics by which in his opinion a great city should be measured: police recruit classes, school funding per student, neighborhood infrastructure investments, and affordable housing units created.
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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. – host Leahy welcomed Tennessee State Senator Kerry Roberts in the studio.
At the end of the third hour, Leahy and Roberts discussed how the Tennessee State Comptroller’s office may need to step in as Metro Nashville’s un-balanced budget yields a 32 percent property tax increase and an increase in spending. The men agreed that this would not be an ideal situation for the city or comptroller.
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Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury Justin Wilson warned Metro Nashville City Council members Wednesday that if Nashville doesn’t balance its budget by February, the state will intervene.
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Retired Metro Nashville employees’ benefits are in jeopardy, one PAC says, even as Mayor Megan Barry’s supporters have no trouble raising funds from the business community to try to persuade voters to pay $9 billion for a transit system. NoTax4Tracks says in a press release that Metro Nashville has a health insurance funding shortfall for retirees to the tune of nearly $3 billion. “The good news is you are probably going to get whatever is in your pension. That part of the retirement plan is fairly well funded. The bad news is that health insurance coverage you were promised …. maybe not so much.” Health insurance, a part of “other post employment benefits (OPEB), are funded at 0 percent, the press release says, citing an October 2017 letter from Metro’s director of finance, Talia Lomax-O’dneal. The shortfall is nothing new. A Jan. 26, 2015 story from the Tennessean says the issue dates to 2002. Many of the retirement benefits are paid from the city’s budget and costs grew from 13 percent of the total property tax revenue to 25 percent in 2015. The story cites a report from The Pew Charitable Trusts that says the health care plan faces a long-term shortfall…
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In her second State of Metro address Wednesday morning, Nashville Mayor Megan Barry presented a laundry list of big-spending plans that liberals will love and make conservatives reach for their Tums. The Democratic mayor called for paid family leave for Metro employees and “income diversity within neighborhoods” that are “transit-oriented.” In addition, she wants environmental programs to make Nashville the “greenest city in the Southeast.” She also used progressive buzzwords about promoting racial and ethnic diversity and welcoming immigrants. “Nashville is a warm and welcoming place,” she said. “We build bridges, not walls, and we welcome and celebrate the diversity that makes us strong.” Barry delivered her State of Metro address outside Bridgestone Arena, where a stage and seating were set up to accommodate the public. The speech featured details of her $2.2 billion budget proposal for fiscal year 2017-2018. The Metro Council will consider the proposal and hold public hearings. She said that Metro Nashville is expected to have the lowest combined property tax rate in its 54-year history of combined city-county government at less than $3.16 per $100 of assessed value following the 2017 property reappraisal. But new taxes are needed for roads and transit, she said. Barry praised passage of…
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