Metro Nashville plans to spend $2.65 billion — or about 7% more than last year — in the newly proposed city budget.
Mayor John Cooper addressed the city yesterday and got a lot of praise for wanting to spend big on education, especially in light of a pinch on state funds.
Today, Metro shared more details. The Metro Schools increase will be about 7%, while the police department is expecting a bump of at least 4.5%. The mayor says that will help cover the cost of hiring 40 new officers to staff the anticipated Southeast Police Precinct.
Before the pandemic, Nashville’s finances were under scrutiny and the state threatened to step in. But the picture is better now, finance director Kevin Crumbo told the Metro Council today. “The COVID-19 pandemic, social unrest and a bombing in Nashville’s historic downtown area. Stability remained the mission. That mission is accomplished. Sustainability is now within our reach,” he says.
While councilmembers take in all of the new budget information, ideas for ensuring long–term sustainability have come up. They will get a chance to meet with the mayor next week to address his proposal.
Correction: An editing error originally caused this story to understate the size of the proposed increase to the police department budget. City leaders are considering an increase of at least 4.5%.
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