Nashville mayor focuses on affordability in State of Metro speech
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Nashville Mayor Freddie O'Connell rolled out an affordability agenda during his State of Metro address that includes small business initiatives, new investments in affordable housing, and cutting the grocery tax.
Why it matters: Affordability is consistently listed as the top challenge facing the city in recent polls. O'Connell proposes leveraging Metro government to confront the problem.
Driving the news: O'Connell's plan would reduce the local sales tax on groceries by half a cent. That move became possible due to new state legislation passed this year.
- The plan to cut grocery taxes comes shortly after the Metro Council approved legislation backed by O'Connell to bring more day care centers to Nashville.
Between the lines: In 2024, voters approved O'Connell's transportation funding plan, which raised countywide sales tax on all transactions by half a cent.
- "Reducing our grocery tax doesn't just change a line on a receipt; it acknowledges that feeding your family shouldn't be treated like a luxury," O'Connell told the crowd gathered at Nissan Stadium for his speech.
- "It's a shift toward fairness and economic breathing room for the people who make the city work."
Zoom out: The mayor's third State of Metro speech also unveiled two policies aimed at helping small businesses.
- O'Connell's Office of Economic and Community Development is finalizing details for a new Legacy Business Fund to support longtime neighborhood businesses with grants.
- O'Connell also proposed a new workforce advancement grant that would assist small businesses paying for their employees' continuing education. The plan would allocate $1,000 per employee, capped at 10 workers.
Housing is a dominant political issue in Nashville. O'Connell said the city set a new record for most housing units preserved or created in a single year.
- O'Connell's budget proposal would set a new record for affordable housing funding at over $60 million.
O'Connell also touted early successes for his Choose How You Move program, including free bus passes for economically disadvantaged residents and early work on modernizing traffic lights.
Yes, but: O'Connell's speech acknowledged continued headwinds.
- One year after raising property taxes, O'Connell forecast a tight budget. He said he instructed Metro departments to reduce their budgets.
- He also pointed to continued political tensions with the state, including recently approved legislation allowing Republican leaders to take over the city's Airport Authority board.