Metro’s budget hearings took on a more upbeat tone this year, reversing the feeling from 2018, when departments were being asked to make cuts and Metro employees saw their promised pay raises eliminated.
Now pay increases are back in the budget. And department leaders have been willing to ask for some funding boosts as they outline new programs and priorities.
“During the last year we’ve been able to tighten our belts and live within our means and cut some expenses,” says Mayor David Briley.
The hearings —
available in this video playlist — provided an array of insights into how Metro is changing. Here are eight tidbits from the talks.
1. New Rules For Abuse Strain Animal Control Office
New rules restricting when pets in Nashville can be tethered out in the extreme cold or heat has resulted in a doubling of calls to Metro Animal Care and Control. The office is requesting another half-dozen officers to handle all the requests.
Public health director Wendy Long says compounding the personnel crunch is an effort to euthanize fewer animals. She says the city has reached a 90% no-kill rate, a dramatic improvement from recent years when
three-quarters of strays were put down.
“But that success has been achieved with officers routinely being called upon to work 12- to 16-hour shifts,” Long says.
Metro has already been spending more on animal control, trying to reduce the city’s kill rate. Long, who only
started the job in the past month, says the unit has become something residents “can be proud of.”
— Blake Farmer
2. WeGo Asks For Funds To Fill Budget Gap, Expand Service Hours
One of the largest budget requests came from the WeGo public transit agency.
CEO Steve Bland said a combination of factors — including a cut in state funds, higher health insurance costs and some fare collection declines because of more free rides — has created a budget shortfall of more than $8.7 million.
The agency is asking Metro to fill that gap.
In addition, WeGo has asked for a $5.3 million increase to expand bus service hours later into the night, and to improve frequency on weekday nights and weekends.
Riders have requested those changes for years.
The mayor did not immediately say whether funds will be available.
—
Tony Gonzalez
3. Growing Popularity Means Growing Pains For hubNashville Help Desk
Metro’s overhauled 311 help service — for all government inquiries — is short on staff, according to Metro Public Works.
That’s because requests coming in by phone and the hubNashville website are continuing to rise. For example, the service handled 12,000 inquiries in February, compared to 7,000 for the same month a year ago.
The department is seeking two additional staffers to help.
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From Trash Problems To Potholes, City Data Reveal Nashville’s Common Complaints
Officials have roundly applauded the new system, especially compared to the old way of reaching Metro agencies.
“People didn’t know where to call … so they would just start dialing numbers out of the phone book,” said finance director Talia Lomax O’dneal.
— Tony Gonzalez
4. Metro Codes Wants Crackdown On Short-Term Rentals
The Metro Codes Department is looking to increase the cost of permits for short-term rental properties, to $300 from the current rate of $50. Codes director Bill Herbert says if the Metro Council approves the hike, the additional revenue would be used to hire three new inspectors dedicated to cracking down on the scores of short-term rentals that are not operating by the book.
“Currently, as of today we are aware of over 1,200 properties in the county that are operating short-term rentals illegally,” Herbert said Thursday. “And that’s either without a permit or not paying taxes or both.”
Herbert says his office was flooded by over 2,400 calls last year from residents complaining about short-term rentals in their neighborhoods.
— Meribah Knight
5. New Voting Machines Coming
Nashville’s first use of new voting machines that create a paper trail is scheduled for the August election, which includes the race for mayor.
The machines are meant to make recounts and audits easier.
Jeff Roberts, elections administrator, said voters will be required to take one extra step at the polls. They’ll review a paper printout of their ballots before making them final.
“So everyone will have something to look forward to in August,” he said. “Maybe that’ll bring out the turnout, to look at the new equipment to vote on.”
Roberts told officials during his budget hearing that other cities haven’t noticed voting taking any longer with the new approach.
The Metro Council has recommended such machines for several years.
— Tony Gonzalez
6. Nashville Prosecutor Wants Pay Raises
Davidson County’s district attorney used his annual budget hearing yesterday to push for pay raises for his entry-level prosecutors.
Glenn Funk told the mayor and top officials that he believes an oversight several years ago led to a pay gap between attorneys on his team, versus those working in the public defender’s office.
Funk says entry-level prosecutors make $8,000 less, even though their work is equally important.
“Because we’re charged with making sure the community is safe, making sure the community’s healthy, making sure that the system is run in a way that is fair, and we’ve been working really hard to do that,” Funk said.
Prosecutors currently start at about $56,000.
Mayor David Briley wouldn’t make a firm commitment, but said he shares Funk’s concern and is looking for funds to close the gap.
— Tony Gonzalez
7. Where Do Youth Get Guns? From Cars, Police Chief Says
The head of Metro police touted the success of the department’s Juvenile Crime Task Force at his budget hearing.
Chief Steve Anderson said that so far this year the unit has charged 56 juveniles and 44 adults. It’s also recovered dozens of stolen cars and seized 44 guns.
“I am often asked: ‘How are juveniles getting these guns?’ ” Anderson said. “We know at least part of that answer: out of vehicles.”
He went on to say that since the first of the year, 125 guns have been stolen during vehicle burglaries across Nashville.
— Meribah Knight
8. Mayor Intrigued By Vacant Naval Building
In one of the looser moments of the hearings, Mayor David Briley zeroed in on a specific historic building that is standing vacant in Shelby Park.
The mayor suggested that Metro Parks may want to move renovations of
the old Naval Reserve Training Center higher up its list of priorities. (Separately, the Metro Council also ranked that project high on its wish list.)
“It is a building that we ultimately need to either do something with, or someday we’ll have to tear it down,” Briley said, “and it’s a unique building that we shouldn’t let that happen to.”
— Tony Gonzalez
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