Some things I think...
For a brief moment, I think there is no complicated legislation pending before the Council. Soccer, transit, transit oriented development, freezing tax increment financing, and an anemic operating budget are all in the rear view mirror. Amazon, the Church Street Park land swap, and next year's more anemic budget aren't here yet.I know this lull won't last. I'll take this chance to throw out some quick thoughts about several topics:
The "no economic incentives for Amazon until employees get their raise" resolution before the Council on December 4 is a sideshow. If you're against the Amazon incentive, just vote against it when it comes before the Council. The current fiscal year is nearly half over. Employees didn't get their cost of living increase. I worked hard for a different result...but it's too late to do anything about it until the next budget season. Again, my advice is to handle budget issues in the budget. And, if you can't vote for the Amazon incentive, just vote 'no' whenever it comes before us.
In an ironic twist, I hear through the grapevine that the administration might not resist this resolution because Amazon wouldn't get any money for a few years (i.e., not until after the 2019 Metro elections), and by then employees would have gotten a cost of living increase. It's ironic because it is hard to imagine the cost of living increases happening without an increase in the property tax rate. So, if they say "no big deal, the COLAs will happen before Amazon gets money," it will essentially acknowledge an intent to raise the property tax rate after August 2019 but before they pay Amazon an incentive.
If my colleagues want something in exchange for approving the Amazon incentive, they ought to have their eyes on the enormous amount of sales tax revenue being collected out of the Council's control at the Convention Center Authority. Last summer, the administration raided this stockpile to the tune of $10 million per year. There's more to be had there...and that would be a more meaningful and long-lasting win.
Metro's annual audited financials will be released in a few weeks. State law allows an ongoing audit to be discussed in an audit committee executive session. So, as a member of the Metro Audit Committee, I've seen a draft of the audit in an executive session. Due to a change in accounting rules, Metro's unfunded retiree benefits obligation has to be restated this year. I've already been talking for a while about this completely unfunded obligation going over $3B this year. With the new accounting rules, the number in the audit is going to be around $3.9 billion. That means Metro is going to cruise straight through the $3 billion range and cross over $4 billion in 2019. That's a lot of unfunded retiree benefits.
About the ongoing Tax Increment Financing Study Group, I think we are on track to recommend some meaningful changes. We've got a robust web page up. Follow the link there to "TIF Committee Document Library" and you'll find just about anything you could want to know about TIF generally and also about how it is used here in Nashville. Here's a video of our November 20 meeting.
While we work on the TIF study group, I think deeper changes are needed at MDHA. The Tennessean's Nov. 21 reporting about conflicts of interest was pretty brutal. I think they need re-invention and not incremental change.
I get lots of people asking me who will run for Mayor in 2019. I only know rumors, which means I don't know anything. As reported in the Scene in September, here's what I am looking for in a candidate for Mayor:
“We Nashvillians are an optimistic bunch, and for good reason,” says Mendes. “But we need a dose of honesty injected into our politics — honesty about inequalities that hold us back and honesty about deals that move Nashville forward. I’ll be looking for a candidate who believes in a better Nashville and who believes that citizens truly are partners in government. Partial truths and con jobs need to end."
I hope everyone has a happy holiday season! Bob