February 14, 2021– You may have received a postcard recently soliciting you to sign onto a petition about Davidson County’s budget and several tax issues. We strongly urge you to decline to sign it and wanted you to have some additional information:
- This petition is similar to the one that was presented in early fall and was found to be legally questionable.
- It’s a waste of resources and time regarding issues affecting our city and a distraction from our city’s recovery efforts from last year’s tornado, downtown explosion and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
- The Chamber has conducted an independent study of the city’s budget in which it was discovered that the city’s expenses were largely in line with peer cities, while the city’s revenue was insufficient. This has been further exacerbated by COVID-19.
- If the items on the petition are approved at referendum, the city will face a deficit of $332 million and will require cuts that impact our quality of life (specifically the city’s educators, public health and safety, cuts to police officers, firefighters, first responders and trash pickup).
We share the common experience of Nashville as a great place to work, live and play, and one of the Chamber’s top priorities – to support a vibrant business environment – is to ensure that continues.
We encourage you to share this information with your networks and team members who may have an interest. If you have any questions or need additional information, please reach out to info@nashvillechamber.com, and a Chamber staff member will be in touch.
