Nashville voters back transportation funding plan
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Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios
Nashville voters approved Mayor Freddie O'Connell's $3.1 billion transportation funding plan.
- O'Connell and the pro-transportation campaign declared victory shortly after early voting returns came in. With voters' approval, O'Connell will notch a victory that has eluded previous mayors for the past two decades.
Why it matters: Nashville was one of just four of the nation's 50 largest cities without a dedicated funding source for mass transit.
- O'Connell's plan will increase bus service, fund new transit hubs, add sidewalks and modernize the city's traffic signals.
By the numbers: The sales tax in Davidson County will increase by half-a-cent to 9.75% to pay for the plan, which will cost $111 million annually to operate.
- Combining construction costs, interest and inflation, the plan will cost $6.9 billion in its first 15 years.
- O'Connell's administration estimated the tax increase will cost the average Nashville household $80 per year.
What he's saying: O'Connell said his plan would improve residents' ability to move around the city whether they take a bus or not.
- The city published maps showing the sidewalks, traffic signals, bus service and safety improvements planned for each Metro Council district.
Flashback: Nashville voters overwhelmingly rejected a larger transit funding proposal in 2018. That ambitious proposal included light rail and a downtown tunnel.
What's next: Improvements are expected to begin quickly.
- O'Connell expressed confidence that creating a dedicated funding source will position Nashville for federal transportation funding.
- The grassroots opposition effort, which lacked the funding of the pro-transportation group, indicated earlier this year that it would pursue a legal challenge to the funding plan.
- They claim the state law enabling the sales tax increase narrowly allows for mass transit funding, and improvements such as new sidewalks and traffic signals are beyond the scope of the law. With voters approving the plan, a lawsuit from opponents is more likely.