Democrat Mayor Suggests 32% Property Tax Hike as Citizens Pummelled By Coronavirus
The mayor had ruled out cuts to cost-of-living adjustments for city employees.
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The Mayor of Nashville, Tennessee, doesn't seem to be working towards helping citizens avoid financial ruin from the coronavirus pandemic; instead, he's proposing a huge tax hike.
Mayor John Cooper pushed for 31.7 percent property tax increase because the city is faced with “the greatest financial challenge” it has had in a lifetime, according to the Tennessean.
“This is a crisis budget,” he said.
But Cooper is failing to see that residents are also facing challenges.
“Cooper’s $2.44 billion budget proposal is about $115 million more than this year’s budget,” the Tennessean reported.
“After two deals to bring in a quick influx of cash faltered last year, Nashville’s house of cards collapsed, leading to a $42 million shortfall.”
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Nashville was not in a good financial state even before the coronavirus pandemic.
Bearing the brunt of Cooper’s proposed new budget would be city grants to nonprofits.
The mayor had ruled out cuts to cost-of-living adjustments for city employees.
“In the end, hard, hard decisions have to be made,” he said.
“Everybody is sacrificing in this budget.”
Property-owning taxpayers will be bled dry by the proposed budget,
“It’s an insult to small businesses in Nashville that are literally at best on their knees, but most are on the ground. It’s like getting kicked in the gut with a steel-toed boot,” local restaurant owner Will Newman told WKRN-TV.
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“This will absolutely crush whatever restaurants are left, crush it. Small businesses in Nashville are on life support, and you know our plea now is to metro council: Do the right thing and propose an alternate budget that is balanced in its approach and not shocking to the core.”
District 19 Councilman Freddie O’Connell said restaurant owners who are concerned about the hike.
“Thinking about a sharp property tax increase right now is really, really troubling to me,” he said.
“A small business by sometime next year is probably going to see their rent increase as they also try and deal with an economy that’s struggling to regain its footing.”
The Democrat's war on small businesses continues.
