On February 6, the Metro Council voted to approve Mayor Barry's transit improvement program (Bill BL2017-1031 (as amended)), or as it is better known, "tax for tracks" Included in the bill was a request for the Davidson County Election Commission to call a county-wide referendum regarding the increase in taxes to fund the plan.
In debating the bill some members made the argument that they were simply passing the bill to let the public decide the issue. That is not the way it works. That is a weak rationalization for not having the guts to vote against it. That is like a member of the Senate voting for a bill and claiming he is voting to let the House of Representatives decide. Or, it is like a councilman voting to pass a bill in the Council and saying he is voting for it and the mayor can decide to sign it or not. As the minutes describe the bill it is , "An ordinance adopting a transit improvement program for the Metropolitan
Government of Nashville and Davidson County, approving a surcharge for
the program, and requesting the Davidson County Election Commission to
call a county-wide referendum election to be held on May 1, 2018,
regarding the levying of the surcharge on certain taxes to fund the
program." For more proof, read the bill. This was a vote by the Council to approve the plan and to approve the tax increase.
Originally the bill required language in the referendum to state that the cost of the program would be $5.3 billion. On the night of final passage, the bill was amended to reflect the true cost of $8.5 billion. This of course assumes no cost overruns and historically projects of this nature rarely come in on budgets. Cost overruns of 50% to 200% are not uncommon for projects like this. Following the amendment adoption, the following language is what will be in the referendum:
This transit program’s capital cost is estimated to have a present day value of $5,354,000,000 and the program is estimated to require $8,951,062,000 in revenue through 2032. Once construction is complete, the estimated present day value of recurring annual operating and maintenance costs is approximately $99,500,000.The amendment to include the transparent language that reveals the $8.9 Billion price tag was hotly debated. It passed by a vote of YES: 21, NO: 16, ABSTAIN: 1 and NOT VOTING: 1
A "yes" vote on Amendment 2 was a vote for transparency. It was a vote to include the $8. 95 million plan price tag.
Sharon Hurt, At-large Jim Shulman, At-large DeCosta Hastings, District 2
Brenda Haywood, District 3 Robert Swope, District 4 Doug Pardue, District 10
Larry Hagar, District 11 Steve Glover, District 12 Holly Huezo, District 13
Keven Rhoten, District 14 Freddie O'Connell, District 19 Mary Carolyn Roberts, District 20
Sheri Weiner, District 22 Mina Johnson, District 26 Tanaka Vercher, District 29
Jacobia Dowell, District 33 Angie Henderson, District 34 Dave Rosenberg District 35
Here is a list of those who voted against transparency, voting to hide the $8.9 Million price tag.
Scott Davis District 5, Bret Witters, District 6 Anthony Davis, District 7
Mike Freeman, District 16 Colby Sledge, District 17 Burkley Allen, District 18
Kathleen Murphy, District 24 Russ Pulley. District 25 Jeremy Elrod, District 26
Karen Johnson, District 29 Jason Potts, District 30 Fabain Bedne, District 32
Antoinette Lee, District 33
Abstaining was Davette Blalock, District 27 and not voting was Ed Kindall, District 2
If you are unsure who your councilman is, you can use the look-up tool at this link. Also, if you would like to put a face with the name, you can see what your councilman looks at at that link and you can contact them from that page should you wish to communicate with your council member.
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