Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell officially announced Thursday that there will be a public transit referendum on the November 5 ballot, however, did not reveal any specifics to his awaited transportation plan.
“After getting the green light on both legal and financial aspects of the process, the administration is putting a referendum in front of the voters on November 5,” O’Connell’s office said in a press release.
This November, we’ll all have the chance to choose a better future for how we move around the city.
We’ll be improving sidewalks, signals, service, and safety.
Join the conversation:https://t.co/1GqsUDPGbu pic.twitter.com/k3Lcdslc1c
— Freddie O’Connell (@freddieoconnell) February 15, 2024
O’Connell said he will seek “public input, feedback from Metro Council Members, and work with two advisory committees to craft a plan that works for Nashville” throughout February and March before unveiling a transit improvement program.
“After a period of engagement with the community and key stakeholders, Mayor O’Connell will unveil a program that focuses on what he sees as critical connectors: sidewalks, signals, service, and safety,” the mayor’s office added.
Once unveiled, O’Connell’s transit improvement program will outline proposed transportation projects for Nashville and a plan for financing them.
It has been reported that a half-cent increase to the city’s sales tax will likely be required to fund O’Connell’s transit plan.
Once O’Connell develops his transit plan, a state comptroller-approved public accounting firm will audit the financing plan and offer a financial feasibility determination.
The Nashville Metro Council will then review the plan and referendum ballot language via ordinance.
If the Metro Council approves the plan after three readings filed with the Davidson County Election Commission, the choice will then be put to a vote, meaning voters will have the option to approve or reject the proposed surcharge at the polls on November 5.
Prior to taking office, as previously reported by The Tennessee Star, O’Connell’s transition committee recommended he plan any public transit referendum to coincide with a major national, “high-turnout election” election to where a transit proposal has a better chance of being approved by voters.
“The failure of Nashville’s 2018 transit referendum holds many lessons,” the transition committee wrote in its report at the time, adding that votes for “long-term funding for transit” are best timed “during a high-turnout election.”
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Photo “Freddie O’Connell” by Freddie O’Connell.
