Dean Tugs Heart Strings Selling Tax Hike to Rotary

Nashville Mayor Karl Dean speaks to Downtown Rotary Club at the Wildhorse Saloon.

Nashville Mayor Karl Dean made a more personal plea for a 53-cent property tax hike Monday. He found a receptive audience with the influential Downtown Rotary Club.

Most of the increase is slated for Metro Schools. It would be used to bump starting pay for teachers from $35,000 to $40,000. Another big chunk would go toward renovations particularly in Southeast Davidson County, which has the city’s fastest growing population.

Reflecting on a recent tour of Antioch Middle, Dean recalls classrooms vacated because of mold, while other parts of the building overflowed with children.

“Anybody who says we don’t need to be investing in our schools, we don’t need to be building improvements in our schools. Look in the face of those young kids who are working so hard to try and get ahead and tell them, ‘this is good enough for you.’ I couldn’t do it.”

As Dean spoke to Rotarians, he was joined by a music teacher and a police officer who recently chased down a murder suspect. Without the tax increase, the mayor says as many as 200 police officers might be laid off.

Dean is leaving little negotiating room with his 53-cent property tax increase. Several Metro Council members spent part of the weekend trying to find savings in the budget and reduce the tax hike.

Mayor Dean addresses questions from reporters.

The mayor says the 40-member council has a job to do, but he says the property tax he proposed is more than a starting point for bargaining.

“This process involves the mayor and the council and there will be discussions, but that 53-cent number – and I’ll be happy to listen to folks – but that wasn’t a number that we pulled out of the air. It’s a serious number.”

The mayor has said anything less would likely result in layoffs of teachers and police officers.

The Metro Council is set to take a third and final vote on Dean’s budget June 19th. Members have until then to tinker, and it’s still possible they will. The chairman of the Budget and Finance Committee told the City Paper this week that he would “be surprised” if the council simply approved the mayor’s proposal.