Metro Council Rejects Nashville Property Tax Increase

One vote is what was the deciding factor in saving Nashville County from a more than 15% tax increase this year. Mayor David Briley was the large victor Tuesday night after the council voted in full to adopt his budget for the next fiscal year. 2019 is a ratio year for Davidson County with the next full reappraisal coming in 2021.

With the Council needing one more vote for approval, it could be Councilmember DeCosta Hastings who abstained that ultimately saved the taxpayers from the hike. But instead, Mayor Briley’s budget of $2.33 billion will be adopted, which delivers a more than $28.2 million increase for the school district.

Briley who has stood in staunch opposition of the bill since its proposal released a statement through his spokesperson saying “Mayor Briley is pleased his recommended budget will become law, which funds a 3 percent cost-of-living-adjustment for all Metro employees and brings every full-time Metro employee on the general pay plan up to $15 an hour, a first in our city’s history.”

The Council’s Budget and Finance Chair Tanaka Vercher has been a proponent of the property tax hike, saying that it would help inject much-needed revenue into the city and schools.

Finance Chair Tanaka Vercher’s Plan

• $50 million for all Metro schools for 4% raises and step-increases
• 3% would go to a cost-of-living raise for Metro employees
• $6.1 million for WeGo Transit
• Funds nine firefighters and twenty police officers
• $250,000 for waterway cleanup

Mr. Hastings, the Councilmember who abstained, said he could not support a Nashville property tax increase because his constituents in District 2 already have the 3rd largest increase in property value in the entire city.

This is the first time that the Council has failed to pass a substitute budget in the Metro’s history. Many of our commercial property owners will be happy to hear the news.

Final Voting Tally of The Nashville Metro Council

Yes: Tanaka Vercher, Sharon Hurt, Brenda Haywood, Brett Withers, Burkley Allen, Ed Kindall, Fabian Bedne, Erica Gilmore, Anthony Davis, Doug Pardue, Mike Freeman, Freddie O’Connell, Dave Rosenberg ,Jacobia Dowell, Colby Sledge, Bob Mendes, Kathleen Murphy, Jason Potts, Delishia Porterfield and  Antoinette Lee 

No: John Cooper, Bill Pridemore, Steve Glover, Robert Swope, Jonathan Hall, Jeff Syracuse, Russ Pulley, Angie Henderson, Scott Davis, Holly Huezo, Jeremy Elrod, Larry Hagar, Kevin Rhoten, Mina Johnson, Mary Carolyn Roberts, Davette Blalock, Nancy VanReece and Sheri Weiner

Abstain: Decosta Hastings