Council members challenge Dean on property tax issue

Metro Council members urged Mayor Karl Dean to not raise property taxes in Davidson County this year, while also questioning why there has been no administration stance on the issue with budget proceedings scheduled to begin Wednesday.

In a comment to The City Paper, Dean said it was too soon to know whether the certified property tax rate would need to be adjusted. Earlier this month, Property Assessor George Rooker gave the news that an average 15-percent increase in property values over the last four years would see the certified rate adjusted to about $4.10.

Currently, the certified rate is $4.69 per every $100 of a property’s value. The 2006 voter referendum prevents the rate from being raised above $4.69 without voter approval.

If the Dean administration adjusts the rate over the $4.10 estimate, it could create as much as $100 million in revenue for Metro without requiring a voter referendum.

Like many other local governments, Metro is in a budget crunch. Metro Finance Director Richard Riebeling asked departments to give reports for what a 10-percent budget cut would look like. Service reductions and layoffs seem inevitable.

“With the budget process beginning this week, it seems like it would be a very appropriate time to know what our revenues are forecasted to be for fiscal year 2010, including property tax revenue,” District 23 Councilwoman Emily Evans said. “One would think you’d want to know what your revenues are going to be before you begin considering cuts.”

With the budget process set to kick into high gear Wednesday, Dean acknowledged the difficult economic times facing Nashvillians, but stopped short of a promise to not raise the certified rate.

“It is premature to decide whether or not a rate readjustment will be necessary this year,” Dean said. “We are just beginning the budget process — hearings with the departments start April 1. It is my responsibility as mayor to present a budget that is in the best interest of our city.

“At the same time, I am very mindful of the real economic burdens already facing our citizens. We are in the worst economic recession since the Great Depression. It is tough to imagine that now is the right time to ask them to pay more in property taxes.”

District 4 Metro Councilman Michael Craddock said the difficult economic times mean it is inappropriate to even consider raising the certified property tax rate.

“It is not the right time and I’ve told Rich Riebeling that,” Craddock said. “There are people all over this city, this state, this country having to cut back, having to do more with less. Quite frankly, I think this government needs to do the same thing. I think government needs to live within its means.”

When Dean ran for mayor in 2007, the issue of property tax increases was a key point of contention with his runoff opponent Bob Clement. It was Clement who committed early in the campaign to not raise property taxes during his first term, a promise Dean called a political gimmick.

But in a comment to NashvillePost.com during the campaign, Dean was unambiguous about his stance on raising property taxes.

"I oppose any increase in property taxes and Bob Clement knows it,” Dean said in NashvillePost.com story on Aug. 28, 2007. “I have said it over and over again, but he is now spending tens of thousands of dollars on a negative attack ad anyway, trying to scare people into thinking there is a property tax threat. Let me say it again, I am against any increase in property taxes. I am standing here at a voting site because the only increase we'll have in taxes will be the one the voters decide they want."

History shows administrations typically recommend a rate increase to Metro Council during reappraisal years. In each of the last four reappraisal years, the certified rate has been increased — by 67 cents in 2005, by 91 cents in 2001, by 54 cents in 1997 and by 63 cents in 1993.

Residents can meet Rooker at a special property tax assessment community meeting hosted by Metro Council's Megan Barry at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Martin Professional Development Center, 2400 Fairfax Ave.

Rooker plans to conduct a 20-minute PowerPoint presentation on the 2009 Reappraisal Process, followed by a questions and answer session.