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Below is a statement from Beacon CEO Justin Owen:

“The Nashville City Council should be utterly ashamed about last night’s vote to raise property taxes. They had a chance to rebuff the mayor’s egregious tax hike proposal and stand with middle-class taxpayers, business owners who have been shut down by the government, and everyone in between. They had a chance to enact much-needed systemic reforms that could begin to right the city’s fiscal ship. Instead, they took the cowardly way out and raised taxes by 34%, an even greater amount than that proposed by the mayor, filling in the gaps with pork and special interest favors. Last night may very well be the turning point in Nashville’s growth and the day Nashville went from ‘It’ city to ‘It was’ city.”

“Years of gross fiscal mismanagement resulted in this situation. Instead of working to fix the mistakes of the past and chart a better path forward, 32 Council members took the easy way out and voted to pass the buck to Nashvillians. Last night is just another indication that many Council members want to see us become another San Francisco or Seattle. The question is, do the voters?”