Metro Council to decide on city budget
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
/2024/06/17/1718659134198.gif?w=3840)
Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios
Metro Council will meet Tuesday to tackle perhaps its most consequential night of work since last year's election, headlined by a deciding vote on the city budget.
The big picture: In addition to a final vote on the budget, council will get its first crack at Mayor Freddie O'Connell's transportation improvement plan.
- Council will also tackle Councilmember Sandra Sepulveda's construction worker safety legislation and decide whether to approve the police department's Taser contract.
Budget: Metro Councilmember Delishia Porterfield, who chairs the budget and finance committee, unveiled her budget amendments last week, committing more funds for employee raises, mental health services and combating youth violence.
- Porterfield joined O'Connell during his weekly media briefing Monday, and he expressed his support for her alternative budget, which maintains the nuts and bolts of his $3.28 billion proposal.
Transportation plan: O'Connell announced the plan in February. After filing legislation last week to put it on the ballot, the issue is now in council's hands for approval.
- Council is tasked with approving the proposal itself — a half-cent sales tax increase to pay for the plan — and signing off on the actual ballot language.
What we're watching: The O'Connell administration included total construction costs ($3.1 billion) and annual operating and maintenance costs ($111 million) in the proposed ballot language.
- Last month, the mayor's office released an independent accountant's report, which estimated the program will cost $6.93 billion in its first 15 years, including construction, operating costs, financing expenses and reserves.
- The 2018 transit referendum, which failed, included that fuller cost estimate in its ballot language. Council could push for the larger estimate to be included on the ballot this time, but that appears unlikely.
What he's saying: Metro Councilmember Sean Parker, who chairs the transportation committee, tells Axios he believes the proposed language "concisely sums up the proposal."
- Parker says the $3.1 billion construction cost estimate is "what I think is most important as voters weigh the costs and benefits of the plan. It's construction cost in today's dollars."
Construction safety: Council will take a final vote on Sepulveda's Build It Right bill, which creates a new board to oversee worker issues on Metro construction sites.
- The new compliance board would ensure construction sites are safe and give workers an avenue to combat wage theft and other issues.
Police Tasers: Council will once again consider legislation to update the police department's Taser contract. Similar legislation failed last year.
- To pay for new Tasers with updated technology, the proposal would increase the contract from $6.5 million to $15.7 million, paid out of existing department funds.