June 29, 2005

Thanks to Blogs, Nashvillians Still Have Right to Fight $20 "Wheel Tax" Increase

Nashvillians will pay higher property taxes and $20 more per year for their car registrations under a new city budget passed by the city's Metro Council last night.

While the newspaper stories don't mention it, the $20 wheel tax increase may not yet be a done deal. Thanks to bloggers, the citizens of Nashville still have the right under state law to force a referendum on that tax increase via a petition drive.

Why do I credit bloggers? Because, earlier this year, several bloggers including myself worked very hard to publicize legislation pending in the state legislature that would have stripped the referendum right out of state law led to that proposed legislation being abandoned by its sponsors.

The legislation - pushed by a lobbyist representing the state's county governments who mislead legislators about the bill's true impact - was virtually ignored by the mainstream Tennessee news media, but covered extensively on the blogs including in-depth coverage here and reports on various other Tennessee blogs. As the real intent of the legislation was exposed, legislators who had sponsored it abandoned the bill.

I haven't heard of anyone organizing a petition drive to kill the wheel tax increase yet, but I wouldn't be surprised if it happens.