Group Opposes Upcoming Nashville Transportation Referendum

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — You may be seeing more from a group campaigning against Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell’s upcoming transportation referendum.

The group calling itself the Committee to End an Unfair Tax has begun running ads on social media.

In November, voters will decide whether to approve a sales tax increase that would improve bus service, build more sidewalks and modernize hundreds of traffic lights in Nashville.

The mayor’s office says a typical household would pay about $70 more in sales tax each year to fund it.

Opponents of the project say the tax unfairly affects Nashville’s poorest people.

“If you’re a low-income person, you’re spending most of your paycheck on rent, gas, etc. So more of your paycheck is going to pay taxes,” said Emily Evans, a former city councilwoman and one of the leaders of the anti-referendum movement. “If you’re a higher-income person, you’re paying for those things, but you’re also doing other things that don’t pay sales tax, like saving money or investing.”

Mayor Freddie O’Connell said Monday that the referendum included benefits that would particularly impact low-income people.

“Ultimately, the way the program is going to provide free or reduced fares in a way that we’ve never been able to do as a system, we think it’s a high-impact, low-cost program that will benefit tens, if not hundreds of thousands of Nashvillians and it will be one of our primary accessibility tools,” O’Connell said.

Nashville voters will decide on the transit referendum the same day they vote for president, Tuesday, Nov. 5.

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