Metro Council passes budget with historic property tax hike – NewsChannel5.com

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Metro Nashville City Council passed a budget early Wednesday morning that includes a 34-percent property tax hike. It’s the largest property tax increase in Metro Nashville history, and the first hike since 2012.

With more than 80-percent of council members’ approval, a substitute budget offered by Councilmember Bob Mendes passed in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

The budget includes a plan to increase funding to Metro Nashville Public Schools and the Metro Nashville Police Department.

Councilman Bob Mendes said his budget will get the city back on firmer financial footing, while still being able to help people.

“One of the things that we’re in a great position to do is raise 1,500 employees of the school system up to $15 an hour, and we’re going to be able to get community centers open on Saturday morning,” said Councilmember Bob Mendes. “Really, people who are hurt the most, we’re trying to get something in the budget for. I feel like we did that tonight.”

Mendes’ budget was adopted over Mayor John Cooper’s, but the Mayor tweeted following the budget decision Wednesday morning, showing support for the council’s decision.

“The FY2021 budget process is proof positive that here in Nashville, we can still have collaborative working relationships in our politics,” tweeted Mayor Cooper. “The end result, a budget built on compromise and full of tough choices, provides stable financial footing for our city’s future.”

The council meeting didn’t go without some problems.

Not only were there many different substitute budgets and amendments to consider, but the council was also trying to work with a program allowing Council members to vote from home, leading to some technical problems.

Prior to the meeting, a group of about 250 protesters gathered on the courthouse lawn, asking council members to defund the Metro Nashville Police Department.

It was yet another peaceful gathering in Nashville in response to the police killing of George Floyd.

In the end, Councilman Mendes’ budget plan called for increasing funding to Metro Nashville Police Department by $2.6 million. The plan would allow the police department to continue with its recruitment of new officers to fill a shortage in Nashville’s police force. Right now, the department is about 150 officers short of the count it is allowed to have. The increase in funding would allow the department to bring in 48 new officers, some of which are already in the recruitment or training pipeline.

There were at least four budget proposals on the table – one from Mayor Cooper, one from Budget Chairman Bob Mendes, one from Councilman Steve Glover and one from Councilman Freddie O’Connell.

Each of them called for raising property taxes by varying amounts after COVID-19 hit the city’s revenue hard. Others would offset property tax increases by increasing the wheel tax at higher rates.

Glover’s and O’Connell’s budgets did not get the number of votes they needed to move forward.