Small Business Optimism Index Soars, Continuing Historic Run

Press release, NASHVILLE, June 12, 2018 —The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index increased in May to the second highest level in the survey’s 45-year history. The index rose to 107.8, a three-point gain, with small businesses reporting high numbers in several key areas including compensation, profits, and sales trends.

State-specific data is unavailable, but NFIB Tennessee State Director Jim Brown said Tennessee businesses are benefiting from operating in a state with a friendly regulatory climate.  “The Tennessee General Assembly continues to ease the regulatory burden on small businesses, which is contributing to exceptional job creation and strong confidence,” he said. “Small business appreciates predictability, low taxes, and less red tape.”

Nationally, “Main Street optimism is on a stratospheric trajectory thanks to recent tax cuts and regulatory changes. For years, owners have continuously signaled that when taxes and regulations ease, earnings and employee compensation increase,” said NFIB President and CEO Juanita Duggan.

The May report hit several records:

Compensation increases hit a 45-year high at a record net 35 percent. Positive earnings trends reached a survey high at a net three percent. Positive sales trends are at the highest level since 1995. Expansion plans are the most robust in survey history.

In another interesting marker, a net 19 percent of small business owners are planning price increases, the highest since 2008 and a signal of a strong economy. A net three percent reported positive profit trends, up four points and the best reading in the survey’s history. In addition, a net 15 percent reported higher nominal sales in the past three months, up an astonishing seven points and the sixth consecutive strong month for sales.

“Small business owners are continuing an 18-month streak of unprecedented optimism which is leading to more hiring and raising wages,” said NFIB Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg. “While they continue to face challenges in hiring qualified workers, they now have more resources to commit to attracting candidates.”

Small business owners continue to hire with a seasonally-adjusted net 18 percent planning to create new jobs. Twenty-nine percent of owners have job openings for skilled workers, the third highest reading since 2000. Twelve percent have job openings for unskilled workers, with the strongest demand in the transportation, travel, communications, and utilities sector. To compete in the job market, 35 percent of owners reported increases in labor compensation to attract job applicants.

The percentage of owners reporting capital outlays moved up one point to 62 percent, with 47 percent reporting spending on new equipment, 24 percent acquiring vehicles, and 16 percent improving expanded facilities. Thirty percent plan capital outlays in the next few months.

Access to credit continues as a non-issue with 37 percent of owners reporting all credit needs were satisfied and 43 percent saying they were not interested in a loan, down seven points from last month and the lowest reading since 2007. Only one percent reported that financing was their top business problem. Owners planning to build inventories rose three points to a net four percent, the nineteenth positive reading in the past 20 months.

As reported in NFIB’s May jobs report, 23 percent of owners cited the difficulty of finding qualified workers as their Single Most Important Business Problem, followed by taxes at 17 percent and regulations at 13 percent. Fifty-eight percent reported hiring or trying to hire, up one point from last month but 83 percent of those reported few or no qualified workers.

Top Stories

Metro fair board pushes forward plan for Fairgrounds giveaway of 10 acres.

Channel 4 WSMV: Metro fair board pushes forward plan for Fairgrounds - ... The flea market would move across Wedgewood Avenue to a piece of property that’s lower and smaller. ... As far as the demolition of the buildings goes, this will not happen without Metro Council approval.

The Tennessean:  Nashville fair board approves plan for reimagined fairgrounds with MLS stadium - ... The fair board's vote isn't binding, but it was an important requirement for the project to advance. It means the process to rezone the property will begin immediately, with legislation to be filed Wednesday to change the land use of the site.

Top Stories

Nashville General Hospital CEO offered 10% incentive raises by half-empty board

The Tennessean: Nashville General Hospital CEO offered 10% incentive raises by half-empty board

Top Stories

Even more trouble at General Hospital: Fifth member of 10 member board resigns.

Yet another board member of the Nashville Hospital Authority Board as resigned making this the fifth member to resign from the board in the last month.  The Board member who resigned yesterday was Fredia Outlaw. In resigning she said she had "grave concerns" about the  Board. "I believe in a focus on both process and outcomes in keeping with principals and practice that ensure integrity,” Outlaw said. “I strongly believe that the current process of review and renew of Dr. Webb’s contract is seriously flawed.”

Two weeks ago the Board voted to "extend" the contract of Hospital CEO Joseph Webb despite no formal performance review and no formal written contract which to extend at the time. The  extension of the non-existing contact did not specify salary or benefits. The board said they would work that out later. That vote was 5-1. At the time there were two members absent and two vacancies on the board.

Prior to Outlaw's resignation and since the action of the Board to extend Webbs non-existing contract, Board member Dr. Michele Williams resigned.  Dr. Williams reported told The Tennessean he had 'trust issues' with the Board. He said that Mr. Webb's performance review had essentially been completed for months but it was not favorable so the Board did not release it fearing it would jeopardize hospital funding. Dr. Williams' departure from the Board means the Board does not have enough physician members to make decisions about medical credentialing or evaluate medical staff, according to the Tennessean.  I am unsure if this is a result of State law or Metro charter or board policy and I do not know how many, if any, physician remain on the Board.

Metro General has failed time and time again to live within the budget provided by the city and has had to go hat-in-hand repeatedly to the Council asking for more money. One would think that that failure to live within budget would be a factor in a performance review. I don't know if this is a negative reflection on Webb or not.  It may very well be that he is such a great administrator that General would have been asking for even more money without Webb's leadership. I don't know.  One would think however, that given what a mess General is in that the board would want an objective official performance review before extending his contract. This action of the board does not instill confidence.

Metro General has serious problems. It can not fill its beds because not enough people choose General. Metro jail inmates without insurance must use General if they need hospitalization and Metro employees get a special deal it they will use General.  Ever since the advent of Medicaid there has been no need for a charity hospital and is only kept alive because it is a source of pride in the Black community. The current city subsidy to General Hospital is $11 million. Briley's proposed budget for next year would give the hospital a $46.million subsidy.  Former Mayor Barry had a plan to close General and replace it with an outpatient clinic, but abandoned that play when she got push back.
 
For source material and more information see these links: here,  here, here,

Top Stories

What happened at the 6/5/2018 Metro Council meeting: Public ask for more funding for school and employee pay increases, Flood wall killed again, rip-off of pension fund addressed.

At five and half hours long, this is a long council meeting. Over four hours of the meeting is the public hearing on the budget.  To access the agenda, the Council staff agenda analysis and my commentary on the agenda, follow this link.



Following the payer and pledge, there is a presentation of a Lupus awareness mouth resolution. Following that is the opening of the floor for nomination to the Industrial Development Board beginning  at timestamp 13:04. Only two people are nominated and I do not know how many seats are open, it is not stated. Maybe there is only one opening.  This is important to a very small segment of the community but is very important to some of them. If you care about this go to the 13:04 timestamp to see the nominations.

The next item is the confirmation of mayoral appointments to boards and commissions. Usually the appointees are unanimously recommended by the Rules Committee but several of the nominees have a committee report of one opposed and the rest in favor. Those receiving the one vote against from the Rules Committee were appointees or reappointments to the Board of Equalization. The "no: vote was from Councilman Jim Shulman. He explains his "no" vote at about timestamp 19 in the video. Those appointees are going to return to the Rules Committee and explain the process of Board of Equalization appeals. I think this is a good thing. The Council should take its confirmation responsibility seriously.  The Council should understand how these boards operate. Council member Hunt questions why they are asked to come back to the committee and some discussion ensues. All appointees are approved.

Public hearing on the operating budget and capital improvements budget begins at time stamp 
36:58 in the video.  I watched this in double speed but didn't miss anything important.. As anticipated a lot of citizens want Metro to spend more money for their pet projects or areas of concern and others express support for some funding that is in the budget. The budget includes funding for the Black Chamber of Commerce, the  Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the LBGT Chamber of Commerce. Speakers advocate for this funding. Speakers advocate for the funding of the Financial Empowerment Center, for the "In full Motion" program, for the funding of the arts, for pre-K funding, mass transit funding, the "opportunity now" program, the Entrepreneur  Center,and  after school programs,  One speaker addresses the overtime pay for police and says the event organizers should pay for this service, not we taxpayers (about timestamp 1:23:258). Speakers advocate for more funding for Metro employees, schools, fire department, General Hospital, affordable housing,and  a tax increase. One speaker takes the opportunity to argue against short term rentals. Another argues against the racial disparity in in-school suspension. Former Councilman John Summers ask for a tax increase. One speaker (at about timestamp 3:37:30) makes the obvious sensible argument that property tax increases makes housing less affordable and he argues the city should not be funding so many non-profits such as the Country Music Hall of Fame. By far, most speakers were advocating for more funding for schools followed by those advocating for an employee pay increase. One speaker urges a freeze on all new capital expenditures, specifically saying we should not be funding the new Soccer stadium. The public hearings are concluded at timestamp 4:12:01.

Other than the one speaker concerned about overtime pay for policemen and the one who called for a halt to new capital projects, no one else called for belt-tightening or questioned the massive waste and corruption in Metro government. Metro has plenty of money; we just waste too much of it.  We spend millions on sidewalks and get only a few miles of sidewalks, we pay exorbitant management fees for the pension plan investments  and we just spend on things that are not necessary.  No one called for a budget cut or tax decrease.  This is typical of every budget hearing. Those who want to raise taxes and spend more speak out and those who want sound money management and less government do not.

Flood Wall removed from the Capital Improvements Budget

The proposal to build a $125 million flood wall  to protect downtown from the next thousand year flood was again in the Capital Improvements Budget this year. The Council had defeated this proposal in three separate years but Mayor Briley included it in this years proposal again. Normally an item in the CIB does not spend any money or cause anything to be built without coming back before Council as part of a funding package that list the projects to be funded. Normally the CIB does not spend any money but is a wish list of projects that are prioritized and sources of funding identified. The flood wall would have been different.  The Department of Water and Sewer Services has its own source of funding in the water bills they charge customers and they would not have had to come back before the Council to build the wall had this been in the CIB. I am pleased to see this removed and killed yet again. For my commentary on this issue follow this link. To see the Council discussion see timestamp 4:13:18 - 4:34:25.

Resolutions:   
There are 29 resolutions on the agenda. Here are the ones of interest.

Resolution RS2018-1180  proposes three amendments to the Metro Charter. If approved by the Council they would go before the public to be voted on in a referendum. These proposed charter amendments concern the line of succession in the event of a vacancy in the office of mayor  how to fill a vacancy in the office of vice mayor and the positions of President Pro Tempore and Deputy President Pro Tempore of the Metro Council. This bill is substituted which tweaks the proposed amendments a little and then the resolution is deferred until the first meeting in July.

Resolution RS2018-1243 by Robert Swope and Steve Glover is an attempt to do something about Metro's money mismanagement. This is  a good bill. It passes. It ask the "Investment Committee of the Metropolitan Employee Benefit Board, the Metropolitan Finance Department, and the Metropolitan Office of the Treasurer to review contracts pertaining to the management of Metro’s pension fund and to explore other options for pension fund management that would lower management fees and other expenses related to the pension fund. This should include exploring whether Metro’s pension fund could be managed by the Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System.

In the "whereas" clauses this resolution reveals the fact that the "pension fund, as of June 30, 2017, had assets of nearly $3 billion," and "investment expenses associated with Metro’s pension fund totaled over $39 million." I suggest those who care about the financial well being or our city to read this resolution. 

Resolution RS2018-1245  is "resolution supporting and encouraging economic equality for women." It passes on the consent agenda. This bill repeats the often made deceptive claim that women are underpaid compared to men because women earn only 79% of what men do. It ignores that women make different choices. When other variables are held constant, there is no pay gap. For more on this see The ‘Wage Gap’ Myth That Won’t Die - WSJ,  or The Gender Pay Gap is a Complete Myth - CBS News. This is a meaningless resolution and accomplishes nothing but I wish someone would have taken to the floor to debunk the myth.

Bills on Introduction and First Reading: There are 48 bills on first reading. Bills on First Reading are normally considered as a group and are seldom discussed. First reading is a formality that allows the bill to be considered. Unless a bill is ridiculously atrocious it should be passed on first reading. Bills are not assigned to committee or analyzed by council staff until after they have passed first reading.   Bill BL2018-1205  on First Reading would save the fairgrounds by prohibiting the giveaway of the ten acres that is slated to be given to the developers of the planned soccer stadium. It is deferred one meeting.

Bills on Second Reading: There are 13 bills on Second Reading. Here are the bill of significance:

Substitute BL2018-1139 approving the Donelson Transit-Oriented Redevelopment Plan passes on a voice vote. There is a new authority given to cities to plan, facilitate and guide develop around transit stops to encourage a certain kind of development around those stops and to give cities the authority to issue Tax Increment Financing bonds for improvements in the designated area. This would be the first time this authority has been used. This designation would apply to the Donelson stop on The Nashville Star line. There is a lot of detail in the staff analysis for those who want to know more.  I had previously expressed a concern is that this might confer the power of eminent domain to MDHA for use in this area.  I have since spoken to the sponsor and have been assured this is not the case. The bill is amended to prohibit non-owner occupied short term rental in this redevelopment district. While I do not like that provision, on balance I think this is good planning and am supportive of this bill.

 Bill BL2018-1157  establishes a 50 foot floodway buffer along the Cumberland River and prohibits variances. This is deferred to July 3rd.

Bill BL2018-1185 sets the tax levy which does not change the current tax levy so does not raise taxes. As expected, this is deferred to "track" with the operating budget.

Bill BL2018-1186   is essentially an extension of an existing tax relief program that has been in existence for many years. This is a good bill. It allows elderly homeowners to stay in their home and not be forced out because of increased property taxes. The out come never in doubt, this passes on a voice vote.

Bills on Third Reading. There are  11 of them. Most are rezoning bills and of little interest and there are no surprises.

Top Stories

"Downtown Nashville Is Supposed to Be the Model of the Walkable 21st-Century City. I’m Not So Sure." WHAT? Who says?

Nashville gets lots of accolades as best this and best that and #1 for this or the other.  Being "the model of the walkable 21st-Centry city," is something I had not heard before. I would not think Nashville deserves the honor.  Drivers constantly ignore the "walk" signs when turning or running yellow lights.  To cross a street is to take your life in your own hand. Drivers do not yield for pedestrians even when pedestrians have the light.

Except for downtown not much of the city has sidewalks. Our sidewalk program doesn't expand sidewalks but rips up very serviceable sidewalks and replaces them with brand new sidewalks.  In October it was revealed that in the past two years the city had budgeted $60 million for sidewalks and only got 3.5 miles of new sidewalks.

So who is saying Nashville is supposed to be the model of the walkable 21-century city? New York magazine said it and then questioned the accuracy of the statement. It sort of sit up a straw man to knock over. It never credits anyone or any organization for saying Nashville is the walkable 21st century city.  The article does however provide some insight into the status of Nashville's downtown as a community and instead says it is sort of temporary housing for millennials who migrate to the suburbs as soon as they have children. The article seems to say Nashville is a soulless conglomerate of  pricey high rises and tourist spots but not a real city and that in the process of creating downtown we have made a city in which the working poor cannot afford to live.  The article is worth reading. I am not sure I agree with it but it offers a point of view worth pondering.

Top Stories

The Tennessean reports on, "Council kills latest downtown flood wall proposal."

The Tennessean reports on, "Council kills latest downtown flood wall proposal." In my view the Council did the right thing. To see my commentary on the topic follow this link.

Top Stories

Phil Bredesen bankrolls liberal Democratic candidates

Phil Bredesen gave $36K to Hillary campaign

Washington Examiner - ... Bredesen has showered the party’s anointed with cash. He gave $4,000 to campaign and leadership committees. He spent $9,000 supporting both of former Vice President Al Gore’s failed presidential campaigns. He dropped former President Barack Obama a $5,000 line and then gave another $30,000 to Obama’s affiliated victory fund. When Bredesen was "with her" though, he was especially generous. The Democrat gave ex-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton $2,700 then turned around and sent a whopping $33,400.00 to her victory fund.
former President Bill Clinton’s
(LINK)

Top Stories

Metro Councilman Robert Swope Proposes Autonomous Shuttles

Metro Councilman Robert Swope has come up with what he's calling "the intelligent transit plan” to get people around Nashville. It would be an all-electric, driverless,  extended bus system intended to reach outside of Davidson County.  To watch the News Channel 5 report follow this link.

Top Stories

Teachers, unions push property tax hike as Nashvillians sound off on budget woes

The Tennessean gives an accurate report of the public hearing on the budget in this article: Teachers, unions push property tax hike as Nashvillians sound off on budget woes.

Top Stories

What's on the Council Agenda for 6/5/2018: public hearing on the budget, addressing Metro pension mismanagement, the Donelson Transit-Oriented Redevelopment Plan, stopping the fairground giveaway.

By Rod Williams - The Metro Council will meet Tuesday, June 5, 2018 at 6:30 PM in the Council chamber at the Metro Courthouse. Here is a copy of the Council agenda and the staff analysis for those who want to watch the Council meeting and follow along.  Below is a summary of what is on the agenda and what I perceive to be the most important.

Nominations to the Industrial Development Board:  Nomination are made from the floor for seats

on the board and then at the next meeting the council elects members from among those nominated. I believe there are four seats to be filled. This is not generally something the public cares much about but these seats are highly sought after and among business interest this is of considerable interest. This Board controls a lot of money. It develops property then leases it to businesses. This is one of ways the Council bribes companies to locate in Nashville by giving sweetheart deals to favored companies. Another way of looking at it is that this is a tool to incentivize companies to locate in Nashville.  Since the property remains the property of Metro Government and thus exempt from property taxes, companies awarded these deals do not have to pay property taxes but instead pay "payment in lieu of taxes" or PILOT, which is often much less than they would pay in taxes. Also, the IDB may do the same for developers of affordable housing.

Confirmation  of mayoral appointments to boards and commission: There are a total of  eleven appointments to be confirmed. Normally this is a routine matter and the council rarely rejects a mayoral appointment. 

Public Hearing on the operating budget and the capital improvements budget: Bill BL2018-1184 is the operating budget and Bill BL2018-1196 is the capital improvements budget.

The current Fiscal Year 2018 budget is for  $2.21 billion. The mayor’s proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2019 represents an overall increase of $20.4 million. This year's budget does not call for a tax increase.

At the budget hearings expect person after person to call for more spending for schools, parks, libraries, sidewalks, General Hospital, and other pet projects. Unfortunately, Nashville's conservatives  are not very active and seem not to care a great deal about local government.  They only get motivated about once ever eight years or so to oppose a proposed tax increase.  While liberals are active day in and day out and are at every budget hearing asking for more spending, conservatives are not to be seen calling for less spending except in the years of a proposed tax increase. It is not surprising that liberals always win.

This public hearing would be a great opportunity for people to voice concern about our massively expensive sidewalk program that builds very few sidewalk, our continued funding of the unnecessary General Hospital and the scam of excessive police and firemen overtime pay and the giveaway of ten prime acres of fairground property.

This year expect to hear from a lot of metro employees upset that the budget does not include funding for their promised cost of living pay increase and from school advocates upset that the schools requested budget was not fully funded.

One thing to note about this budget is that it anticipates insufficient money held in reserves.  The budget is broken into six separate funds such as the General Services General District General Fund and the School Debt Service Fund and four others. Metro has a policy that the city should maintain a balance of at least 5% reserves in each of these funds.  This is simple prudence and sound money management.  This budget does not do that. The Urban Services District Debt Services Fund would drop to as low as 2.3%.  Metro is like a household that is one unexpected auto repair bill from missing a mortgage payment or getting the light cut off. With the pension liability of the city and retiree health cost liability as well as debt obligations,  if we have a natural disaster or lose an existing sports franchise or if Trump's promised trade war causes an economic downturn, Metro could face some very hard choices. For a more detailed explanation of what is in the budget see the staff analysis. To become an expert on the Metro budget, see Citizens' Guide to the Metro Budget.

The capital improvements budget is not really a budget. It appropriates no money. It is a planning documents that prioritizes capital spending projects and list the source of the funding. Before something can be funded by the Council, it has to be in the Capital Improvements Budget. A lot of items in the CIB will never be funded. How many of those listed as a high priority get funded depends on  how much money  the Council puts into debt service to finance projects. Putting something in the CIB does not necessarily mean it gets build, but if it is not in the budget it certainly doesn't.

Resolutions:  There are 29 resolutions on the agenda. All resolutions are on the "consent agenda" initially but if there are any negative votes in committee they are taken off of consent.  Also any council member may ask to have an item taken off of consent or to have his abstention or dissenting vote recorded. All items on consent are passed by a single vote instead of being voted on individually.

There are several resolution to accept grant money.  Some of them require a local match and some do not.  There are a couple resolutions to settle law suits out of court.  None of the resolutions on the agenda are particularly controversial or of particular interest. Here is one of interest.

Resolution RS2018-1180  proposes three amendments to the Metro Charter. If approved by the Council they would go before the public to be voted on in a referendum. The first concerns the line of succession in the event of a vacancy in the office of mayor. The second changes the way we elect someone to fill a vacancy in the office of vice mayor or district council member by speeding up the process and the third would establish  the positions of President Pro Tempore and Deputy President Pro Tempore of the Metro Council within the Charter. Currently, these positions exist only as designations within the Council’s Rules of Procedure. I don't have strong feeling pro or con about any of these.

Resolution RS2018-1243 by Robert Swope and Steve Glover is an attempt to do something about Metro's money mismanagement. It ask the "Investment Committee
of the Metropolitan Employee Benefit Board, the Metropolitan Finance Department, and the Metropolitan Office of the Treasurer to review contracts pertaining to the management of Metro’s pension fund and to explore other options for pension fund management that would lower management fees and other expenses related to the pension fund. This should include exploring whether Metro’s pension fund could be managed by the Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System.

In the "whereas" clauses this resolution reveals the fact that the "pension fund, as of June 30, 2017, had assets of nearly $3 billion," and "investment expenses associated with Metro’s pension fund totaled over $39 million." I suggest those who care about the financial well being or our city to read this resolution. 

Resolution RS2018-1245  is "resolution supporting and encouraging economic equality for women." It repeats the often made deceptive claim that women are underpaid compared to men because women earn only 79% of what men do. It ignores that women make different choices. When other variables are held constant, there is no pay gap. For more on this see The ‘Wage Gap’ Myth That Won’t Die - WSJ,  or The Gender Pay Gap is a Complete Myth - CBS News. This is a meaningless resolution and accomplishes nothing, so it may not be worth wasting council time trying to debunk the myth, but it is galling that the Council continues to support such nonsense. I wish someone would challenge this resolution but I don't expect it.  If I were in the Council, I may not would take to the floor to argue the issue but I would at least be recorded as abstaining.

Bills on Introduction and First Reading: There are 48 bills on first reading. Bills on First Reading are normally considered as a group and are seldom discussed. First reading is a formality that allows the bill to be considered. Unless a bill is ridiculously atrocious it should be passed on first reading. Bills are not assigned to committee or analyzed by council staff until after they have passed first reading. I have not carefully reviewed the bills on first reading, but will before second reading. There is one bill on First Reading that is very significant. Bill BL2018-1205  would save the fairgrounds by prohibiting the giveaway of the tea acres that is slated to be given to the developers of the planned soccer stadium. This is a good bill. I don't think anyone would try to kill it on first reading but they may.

Bills on Second Reading: There are 13 bills on Second Reading. Here are the bill of significance:

Substitute BL2018-1139 approving the Donelson Transit-Oriented Redevelopment Plan. There is a new authority given to cities to plan, facilitate and guide develop around transit stops to encourage a certain kind of development around those stops and to give cities the authority to issue Tax Increment Financing bonds for improvements in the designated area. This would be the first time this authority has been used. This designation would apply to the Donelson stop on The Nashville Star line. There is a lot of detail in the staff analysis for those who want to know more. I have no problem with this concept.  Previous I had expressed a concern is that this might confer the power of eminent domain to MDHA for use in this area.  I have since spoken to the sponsor and have been assured this is not the case. With that assurance, I support this bill.

 Bill BL2018-1157  establishes a 50 foot floodway buffer along the Cumberland River and

A House on a cliff on the Tennessee River

prohibits variances. The floodway is the river channel and adjacent low lying areas that would be underwater in a 100 year flood. No new construction could occur in this area and no existing building could be expanded. Suppose within the fifty foot buffer, the property sit on a high cliff a hundred foot drop to the river. Should that property not be allowed to be developed?  That property could have less impact on the river than a property miles away.  Also, building in the area adjacent to a 100 year floodway does not add to the potential for flooding if displacement is applied. Displacement means that if any capacity for the land to hold water is decreased on one part of a parcel, then more capacity must be added elsewhere. As an example, if a home is build and near the front of the property, the lot is build up by adding so many cubic yards of dirt to a low area, then the same amount of earth would have to be removed elsewhere.

This would also appear to be a  "taking" property. If someone has a right to develop their property and that right is taken from them,  that is a "taking" even if the owner retains legal title. If property is taken the owner should be compensated and it should only be taken for a public purpose. The public purpose may be to reduce flood risk. That may be a valid public purpose, but the owner should be compensated if his land is now worth less because it cannot be developed. Also, there is a proposed development of a boat-oriented development along the Cumberland with canals and boat docks. This type of development could not occur if this rule was in place and if there were no variances permitted.

Bill BL2018-1185 sets the tax levy which does not change the current tax levy so does not raise taxes.

Bill BL2018-1186   is essentially an extension of an existing tax relief program that has been in existence for many years. This is a good bill. It allows elderly homeowners to stay in their home and not be forced out because of increased property taxes.

Bills on Third Reading. There are  11 of them. Most are rezoning bills and of little interest.

Top Stories

1st Tuesday meets June 5th. Guest speaker Andrew Puzder.

From Tim Skow:

Nashville is still buzzing following President Trump coming in support of our 1ST TUESDAY friend Marsha Blackburn!

AND ... now the world is buzzing as President Trump prepares to meet face-to-face with ''Little Rocket Man''

WHAT TIMING ! ....
Given on Tuesday, June 5th our special guest for 1ST TUESDAY will be President Trump's good friend and his original nominee for Secretary of Labor, Mr. Andrew Puzder!

Mr. Puzder spent 16 years as CEO of CKE Restaurants, growing it to over $4.5 billion in sales. He knows President Trump very well. NO DOUBT, he will have a slew of insights to share about President Trump, the booming economy and more as President Trump prepares to sit down with ‘’ Little Rocket Man’’.

Mr. Puzder has recently released his new book: ‘’The CAPITALIST COMEBACK, The Trump

Boom And The Left’s Plot To Stop It’’

I can attest, it is an extremely good read. Those wishing for an autographed copy can acquire one following lunch for $21. Expect a 1ST TUESDAY event unlike ANY other!

As usual, doors at WALLER Law [511 Union St – 27th floor] open at 11:00AM. Event is $20 for Members and $25 for Guests. Lunch begins at 11:30. Program at NOON with a fascinating Q & A session concluding at 1:00PM. Secure seating for you & guests via the 1ST TUESDAY website at www.1sttuesdaynashville.com , then click on ‘’Join Us’’. [good news …our new website comes on line next month !! IF... the Guest icon is troublesome, go ahead and use the $25 Dues icon for this event.. GOOD news it will be the last time]

Pass the word, forward this to those you know and secure seating ASAP ! See you on the 1st Tuesday ... at 1ST TUESDAY ! [yes..1ST TUESDAY is on a 1st Tuesday]

Thanks!
Tim Skow
Host of 1ST TUESDAY

Top Stories