As Citizens Try To Scrape By During Pandemic, Dem Mayor Tries 32% Property Tax Hike

May 2, 2020 in News by RBN Staff

source: www.stationgossip.com

Democrats never miss an opportunity to stick it to the American people with taxes — no matter the situation.
And that is precisely what the mayor of Nashville, Tennessee, proposed doing while many of his constituents are out of work.
Mayor John Cooper pushed for a 31.7 percent property tax increase and major cuts because, he said, the city is faced with “the greatest financial challenge” it has had in a lifetime, the Tennessean reported.
“This is a crisis budget,” he said as he gave a frightening outlook for the financial future of the city.
And he is correct: This is likely the “greatest financial challenge” the city has faced in modern history.
But it is also the greatest financial challenge many of his city’s residents have faced in a lifetime, and raising taxes on them to that degree is not going to help.
“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.”
Nashville was in a financial hole before it was hit with a major storm and then the coronavirus pandemic.
City grants to nonprofits would bear the brunt of Cooper’s proposed new budget, the Tennessean reported. 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.”