Metro spending will be mostly static as Nashville tax revenues plateau

Nashville city departments will have to do some belt-tightening under the mayor’s newly proposed budget, which outlines $3.27 billion in spending for the upcoming fiscal year.

Despite inflation, that amount is not much of a change from last year’s $3.22 billion budget. Metro Director of Finance Kevin Crumbo says this is the result of projected flat tax revenues, a shift from years prior that sawmore growth.

“The position that leaves us in, of course, is budgeting to nearly that same amount of revenue this year, despite some inflationary pressures that are coming our way,” Crumbo said at Wednesday’s budget presentation.

To make ends meet, O’Connell is asking Metro departments to reduce their spending by 1.4%.

“This was a challenging budget cycle for many reasons,” O’Connell told council members. “This means we can’t accomplish everything we want in a single year, but we do some important things,” O’Connell told council members. 

The top budget recipient — as always — will be Metro Nashville Public Schools, who will receive around 38% of the total budget. This comes out to $1.25 billion. Those funds will include support to “bridge” some programs initially supported through Federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER). Metro will also allocate $18 million from its reserve funds to purchase new textbooks for the district.

Other budget highlights include:

• a continuation of funding for the Barnes Housing Trust Fund, which will receive $30 million, same as last year.
• a 3.5% cost of living pay increase for Metro employees. This is in line with a Metro Human Resources recommendation; however, the Metro Civil Services Commission recommended a 4% adjustment on account of inflation. Eligible employees will also receive 3% merit raises.
• the minimum-wage for Metro employees will be raised to $20 per hour, up from $18 per hour.

The budget will be taken up by the Metro Council later this month. The body has until the end of June to make changes and finalize the spending plan through a series of three votes. A budget public hearing is set for June 4 at the Historic Metro Courthouse.