April 25, 2005

Backbone

I don't do much Nashville news here, but this is too rich to ignore. Less than a week after Nashville's Metro Council passed a resolution urging the mayor to submit a no-tax-increase budget, members of the Metro Council - including some who voted for that resolution - are discussing just which taxes to raise if the mayor says he wants more money to spend.

Every four years, it seems, Nashville raises property taxes and this is year four. Sales taxes and the car registration fee, known around here as a "wheel tax," are also on the table.

Councilman J.B. Loring, who represents the Donelson area of Nashville, "said he would consider a wheel and sales tax increase, if an increase is unavoidable," reports The Tennessean.

Loring told the paper, "Anything but a property tax increase. Too many senior citizens on fixed incomes are hurt by that."

Loring voted in favor of the resolution calling on the mayor to submit a no-tax-increase budget, but apparently he didn't mean it.

Councilman Jim Shulman, who represents the Green Hills are of Nashville, told The Tennessean that "everything's on the table" in terms of tax increases. He also voted for the resolution urging the mayor to submit a no-tax-increase bdget.

"Everyone certainly hopes we don't have to increase taxes," Shulman told the newspaper. Mr. Shulman, you and your fellow council members have the power to make sure there is no tax increase. The question, for you, Mr. Shulman and Mr. Loring, is this: Do you have the backbone to stand up for what you voted for?

Mayor Purcell is a smart guy. If he knew the council would reject a budget that calls for higher, he would get out his trusty calculator and present a budget that doesn't need higher taxes.