There is a Metro Council Meeting tonight at 6:00 pm… An agenda has been provided, and you can watch the meeting live via channel 3 or stream live on your electronic devices. 

Council votes on the Budget Tonight

Tonight, we will vote on a budget that WILL raise your taxes... I want to be honest and upfront about this. The question that the council will answer, is how much will the tax increase be. As we've discussed over the last several weeks, there were 6 total budget proposals for consideration. Each one proposed some sort of tax increases. The mayor proposed a $1.00 increase, CM Mendes, Budget and Finance Chair, proposed a $1.06 and a $1.00 increase. (Side note* The mayor and budget chair, by charter, propose the only budgets that can be amended by the council.) CM Benedict proposed a $1.16 increase in her budget, but she has now formally withdrawn her budget from consideration. CM O'Connell and CM Glover have tried to find ways to lessen the increase, yet still, they both have increases proposed at $0.37 and at $0.68 (with an additional wheel tax increase to balance his proposed budget - this makes total spending for a family with two cars a bit more than the proposed budget by the mayor). Again, as you can see, each budget will offer a tax increase of some sort. 

Yesterday, the budget and finance committee met to review 153 pages of amendments to the proposed budget. Click here if you are interested in reviewing the amendments. We will be discussing these as a full council body tonight. Let me know what your thoughts are.

As of now, it seems that the mayor's budget and the $1.06 substitute budget from CM Mendes will be the budgets that are highly considered. CM O'Connell's budget will have to be approved by Metro Finance department to be structurally balanced, if it's not approved, it will be removed from consideration. CM Glover's substitute needs a wheel tax to pass before it will be balanced. BL2020-299 is the ordinance that must be passed to implement CM Glover's budget and is on third reading tonight.

Moreover, we will vote on a budget tonight that will be in place for the 20-21 fiscal year. I will be casting my vote for the budget the best fit the needs for all of District 21.

Tornado Relief 

FEMA has included a grace period for registration for the March 3rd tornado. You can call them at 1(800)-621-3362 or visit Fema.Gov. Also, the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee and several organizations rooted in North Nashville are helping with disaster and emergency relief from organizations that have received funds. Here are a few that are working now... Gideon's Army, Interdenominational Ministers Fellowship (IMF), Jefferson Street United Merchants Partnership, Inc. (J.U.M.P.), Lee Chapel AME Church, New Covenant Christian Church, Greater Heights Missionary Baptist Church, NAACP Nashville, Northwest Family YMCA, Catholic Charities of Tennessee - McGruder Family Resource Center, Meharry Medical College, Tennessee State University Foundation, Rebuilding Together Nashville, The Equity Alliance, and Urban League of Middle Tennessee. These organizations jumped in on the ground floor and have committed to working until individuals in our communities are back to whole and better. If you or someone you know are in need of relief, of any kind, from the tornado, please reach out to one or several of these organizations to find the help you are looking for.

What to expect tonight:

RS2020-388- One of the recommendations from the 37208 committee was to evaluate the fines and fees structure of Metro's criminal justice system to understand its impact on residents, the cost to the city, and opportunities for reform. This resolution asks the mayor to continue the study regarding the reduction or elimination of the Metropolitan Government’s reliance on fines and fees collected by or through the criminal justice system and make such a study available as a publicly accessible document.

RS2020-391 - The Hale family has given back to Nashville for years. This resolution is to honor the life and memory of Tia Barbour-Hale and to recognize her contributions to Nashville.

RS2020-393 - This resolution recognizes the month of June as Pride Month in Nashville. This resolution comes on the heels of the announcement yesterday regarding the Supreme Courts' decision on LGBTQ rights in the workplace.

BL2020-286 - This is the mayors budget... We will be discussing the budget with substitutes I described earlier and the amendments to the mayor's budget or any of the substitute budgets.

BL2020-323 - CM Sledge's ordinance models the "8 Can't Wait" recommendations. These recommendations have been adopted by MNPD.

BL2020-235 - Simply, this bill will increase Special Event fees. 

BL2020-300 - Will add more structure around the time of day construction can take place. This ordinance will only allow construction between 7:00 am - 7:00 pm.

Dates to remember:

• All in-person meetings (large/small groups or one-on-one) that I have scheduled are postponed in light of the increasing COVID-19 concerns and will not be rescheduled until further notice. 

Lets Connect:

I invite all District 21 residents to reach out to me directly with any information or concerns in our community. Email is the best form of communication, but invite you to call me as well. My contact information is below.

Contact information: Email - [email protected] / Phone: 615.946.9700

Best regards,

Brandon