After the November election, City Hall will hold a press conference to announce that they are increasing property taxes again. Just a few years ago, property taxes were increased to 34%. That new property tax increase is imminent and guaranteed. Since the property tax increase is right around the corner, city officials realized they would need a way to get more money from taxpayers now. If officials wait until after the property tax increase to request more money from taxpayers, the taxpayers would be more skeptical and less gullible. Officials needed to work fast to squeeze that last penny out of tax payers and they needed a really good reason for a sales tax increase. Transit! The old bait and switch. Transit would be the bait. Your money would be the switch.
To sell the transit idea, there could be no specific details, no guarantees, plenty of ambiguity, but just enough information to allow taxpayers to imagine the possibilities. The city quickly came up with a referendum to place on the November ballot that linked a sales tax increase to transit. The word “transit” would easily seduce voters to fork over their own money.
At a time when everyday Nashville citizens can barely afford to rub two nickels together, the city is telling taxpayers they should impose HIGHER TAXES on themselves. Some Nashville residents cannot afford to buy groceries, medication, clothes, diapers, pay utilities, property tax, insurance premiums, make home repairs, etc., but the IT CITY that just financially backed the construction of the multi-billion-dollar Titan’s Stadium, has the audacity to ask taxpayers to cast a vote against themselves, their families, and their community, in hopes of receiving sidewalks, synced traffic lights, and improved bus routes.
Many voters do not realize that money from the increased sales tax transit referendum will not be used for projects to decrease congestion on I-24, I-40, I-65, or any other interstates, and it will not be used for a train system. The true transit systems are in Atlanta, New York, Oakland, D.C., etc. Nashville’s transit plan is sidewalks, red lights, and bus routes. In fact, with the last major decision the city made regarding transportation upgrades, Jefferson Street got sawed in half and North Nashville was gutted.
Respected members of the community, and politicians, have been recruited to convince voters that it is in their best interest to vote for a higher sales tax so that they could possibly get new sidewalks, etc. The truth is, the city has a multi-billion-dollar budget and sidewalks, traffic lights, and bus routes, could be financed WITHOUT A SALES TAX INCREASE imposed on taxpayers.
This referendum has to be one of the best money-schemes the city has come up with!
A fool’s tax is the price you pay for your own mistakes- the greatest being not listening to your intuition and following your inner guidance. The very first time you heard “increased sales tax,” your gut reaction was correct. Vote “AGAINST” the increased sales tax.
