Mayor Briley’s disappointment in last year’s budget was not being about to honor our commitment to give all Metro employees a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA). The budget he’ll submit to the Metro Council next month will include a 3 percent COLA for all Metro employees, effective July 1. He’ll also recommend funding step increases and open-range increases. These recommendations are the result of anticipated revenues and a lot of hard work by the Finance Department and other Metro departments to control expenses this fiscal year.

This is another example of a concern to enter into HUB Nashville – for areas where there is frequent dumping, please note the address and any markers into HUB Nashville.

Mayor Briley’s Spring Clean is coming up on May 4^th and it’s a great opportunity to come together as a neighborhood and beautify your area. Public Works is lending materials and support to all neighborhoods that register for a clean-up. To learn more, reach out to Eben Cathey in the Office of Neighborhoods (eben.cathey@nashville.gov).

Mayor Briley understands that everyone is not benefitting from the growth and prosperity that Nashville is experiencing. It is a top priority to ensure that Nashville is the “it” city for everyone – here are a few examples of actions the mayor is taking right now to make sure the prosperity is shared:

• An investment of $750 million in local, federal, and private money to increase access to affordable housing
• COLA increases of 3% for Metro employees
• The Nashville GRAD program

Attached is a flyer with information about the property tax freeze. For those who received a freeze last year, they must still apply by April 5^th to receive a freeze this year. CLICK HERE

This is a fair question and one that gets in the weeds a bit, but there are a few reasons why revenue was low last year despite high levels of growth.

• We are making higher payments to service our debt. This keeps the health of our city’s finances, which have an A+ rating, going strong.
• The state lowered the amount of money we get per MNPS student last year, which equaled losing $15 million dedicated dollars for public education.
• Property tax appraisals did not lead to an increase in revenue. In fact, some property taxes were lowered.
• The city anticipated receiving additional revenue for transit that was contingent on the transit referendum passing, but it failed.

As a city, we had to tighten our belts last year and live within our means. Without raising taxes, we didn’t have the revenue to give metro employees COLAs which is a serious. This year, in anticipation of a better revenue stream, the mayor is happy to recommend COLAs for metro employees and believes revenue will more appropriately mirror the growth our city is experiencing.