Nashville Tax Referendum Backers Have No Time To Appeal Court’s Denial

Backers of a referendum to restrain the power of the Metro Council have virtually no time to appeal ahead of the July 27 vote.

A court decision Tuesday struck down the ballot initiative, siding with Metro government which had sued to stop the measure from being put to a countywide vote. The Davidson County Election Commission is scheduled to meet Friday to decide what to do next.

The commission will likely have to cancel the July election altogether because an appeal would have to be acted on this week to have any chance of meeting the current schedule, even if the appeal were successful.

“The planets would all have to align to make that happen,” says Election Administrator Jeff Roberts, noting that military and overseas ballots have to be mailed on Saturday.

Currently, the chair of the election commission, Jim DeLanis, is out of town. And, so far, there’s no agenda set for Friday’s meeting.

The five-member election commission, which is made up of a majority of Republican appointees, could decide to appeal the ruling and reschedule the referendum voting far enough out. That’s the hope of attorney Jim Roberts, who launched the petition to constrain the city’s taxing power.

“I think they should appeal because this is wrong,” Jim Roberts says of the chancellor’s ruling. “But that doesn’t mean there’s still going to be enough time.”

The campaign against the ballot measure, which has argued it would lead to massive reductions in city services, has suspended operations but pledged to rev back up if the supporters give it another go.