An Eye On Spending After Metro Budget Increase

From The Pamphleteer, July 14, 2025- During Friday’s media roundtable, Fox17 investigative reporter Dennis Ferrier asked the mayor why his office spends taxpayer dollars on lobbyists instead of utilizing his staff. “This is not something new to the city of Nashville,” said O’Connell. He went on to explain that lobbyists engage with the Metro Council and the General Assembly, as well as create relationships within Congress and the White House.

As far as the pinch on local taxpayers, the mayor was asked whether Metro has seen any real effects from DOGE cuts—something he repeatedly mentioned during budget season as his office fended off pushback regarding this year’s spending and property tax increase. In reply, O’Connell mentioned the loss of Metro Public Health Department employees “related to cuts that seem to have originated from a DOGE department of government efficiency approach at the federal level.” Referring to one-time COVID-19 grants cut short in MPHD, the funds that supported those positions would have sunset regardless. (The Trump administration has since been blocked from withholding those funds.) 

Metro departments have spent one-time funding on initiatives now categorized as indispensable, creating fiscal cliffs that the mayor and council claim they attempted to help reconcile in the recently passed budget. For example, Metro schools got $64.5 million to continue programs that would have been cut as federal funding expired. It’s also worth noting that taxpayers have had to pick up the tab for multiple lawsuits, settlements, blunders, and refunds for unconstitutional policies that the city imposed. 

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