This week intern Emma had a chance to speak with Jimmy Lawrence, candidate for Mayor of the City of Nashville. The Nashville Municipal Election will be held August 1. Learn more about the candidates running for office in your community at www.Vote-USA.org!
Narration Transcription:
Nashville has experienced massive growth. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that in 2018 Davidson County had a population of almost 700,000 people, which was a 10% increase from 2010. This growth has challenged the city’s affordability. The 2018 Nashville Chamber of Commerce Vital Signs Report found that 40% of residents had difficulty covering their monthly expenses, which was 6% higher than the previous year. Rising housing costs is one of the main contributing factors. In just the past 10 years, the median house price has jumped from $159,800 in 2008 to $246,500 in 2018. Housing markets have been unable to keep up with demand, causing prices to skyrocket while median household incomes have not experienced corresponding raises.
Tourism has also increased in recent years. In 2018, according to the Nashville Conventions and Visitors Corp, 15.2 million visitors came to Nashville. Tourism is a 6.5 billion-dollar industry which has been partially fueling the growth of the city. To attract tourists, Nashville invested in several large public works projects. One such investment was the Music City Center, which opened in 2013. Taxpayers have been picking up the bill for many of the Center’s expenses, such as police overtime for covering events and infrastructure upkeep for increased tourist traffic. Many would argue that the Center should cover these expenses instead of the city since it is the one generating these costs. In order to assuage its critics, the Convention Center Authority which runs the Music City Center agreed to give $10 million from its surplus funds to the city’s general fund to make up for some of the costs the city has covered in the past. However, some say that the $10 million isn’t enough nor is it a long-term solution.
Even though Nashville generates great wealth from its tourism industry, debt still plagues the city leaving tight budgets for all elements of the metro government.
The Metropolitan government has $3.6 billion in outstanding debt obligations. Last year, for every $10 spent by the city, $1 went to servicing its debt. The city’s debt problems can be traced back to policies implemented during the Great Recession and to borrowing that continued following its recovery. A Blue-Ribbon Commission was recently designated to address Nashville’s debt. It was tasked with trimming $20 million from the budget, and, in April of this year, the Commission released its first report with an extensive list of recommendations.
Mayor Briley proposed an operating budget of $2.3 billion for the next fiscal year. Unanticipated revenue shortfalls limited his budget proposal which leaves public schools severely underfunded. Metro Nashville Public Schools requested a $76.7 million increase in their budget to pay for 10% raises for its teachers and staff, but, in Mayor Briley’s budget, the school system was only awarded a $28.2 million increase. The Nashville School Board has proposed an alternative to raise the remainder of the money where a referendum would be put to Nashvillians to vote on whether to raise their property taxes to make up for the shortfalls of Mayor Briley’s budget. This plan is still being considered. Under Mayor Briley’s budget, property taxes would not be raised.
Today, we will be speaking with Jimmy Lawrence, one of the candidates for Mayor of the metro government. He is known not only as a local businessman but also as a musician. He does not have prior political experience.
Now, let’s dive in with Mr. Lawrence.
