Nashville Council budget chair releases substitute budget proposal. Here's what's in it
Porterfield announced the substitute budget in a June 12 news release. This is a key part of Nashville's budget process, which starts when the mayor releases a recommended budget in May. From there, council members gather community feedback during public hearings, hear directly from city departments with supplementary budget requests and come up with wish list asks of their own, all of which informs the alternative council proposal.
'My goal throughout this process has been to craft a fiscally responsible yet equitable budget that truly serves Nashville,' Porterfield said in the release. 'We've listened to our residents, community organizations and Metro departments to ensure that this budget reflects our city's immediate needs and long-term goals. I'm also proud that we were able to achieve these investments without cutting funding to Metro departments and agencies — ensuring that essential services and operations remain intact for the people of Nashville.'
Council members will decide whether to stick with Mayor Freddie O'Connell's proposal, back Porterfield's substitute or go with another budget option entirely in less than a week. Before then, here's a look at how the two proposals compare.
Broadly speaking, Porterfield's substitute and Mayor Freddie O'Connell's recommended budget both stick to the same overall price tag of around $3.8 billion. About a third of the total in both budget proposals, roughly $1.4 billion, goes toward Metro Nashville Public Schools.
Since Porterfield's substitute arrives at the same total, that means it also keeps the same overall property tax rate as what O'Connell has proposed. Behind the scenes, some council members have an appetite to cut the 2.814 rate.
The main difference between Porterfield's and O'Connell's proposals lies in the areas where the substitute proposes diverting funding. Perhaps the most notable example is listed in Porterfield's release as a key highlight of the substitute budget — an additional $8.2 million toward an across-the-board wage increase for city employees.
O'Connell's budget already called for a 1% wage increase, which some community members have said doesn't go far enough. This additional allocation would bump that raise up to 2%.
The release also highlights the substitute budget's priorities toward investing in youth safety, buoying support services like emergency food assistance and maternal health programs, and maintaining full support for city departments and agencies.
Looking closer at those items, Porterfield's proposal sets aside $175,000 to expand food assistance programming through Metro Social Services, $250,000 to support maternal health and doula programming via the Metro Health Department's Strong Babies initiative and $100,000 to explore additional public-private housing partnerships.
The substitute budget also includes support for developing a community-driven safety plan under the health department and funding flexibility, which would allow the Office of Youth Safety to access unused funds from the current fiscal year. That reflects the top priorities Nashvillians have raised during public hearings, Porterfield said in the release.
'Residents asked us to prioritize youth violence prevention through the Varsity Spending Plan, ensure fair compensation for Metro employees in line with Civil Service Commission recommendations and expand our tools to increase affordable housing,' Porterfield said in the release.
Austin Hornbostel is the Metro reporter for The Tennessean. Have a question about local government you want an answer to? Reach him at ahornbostel@tennessean.com.
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This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville Council budget chair releases substitute budget proposal
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