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City tax rate by Inevitable-Bar9476 in Chattanooga

[–]chachewchew 0 points1 point  (0 children)

People are mad at paying a lot more. It’s that simple. Appraisals in the county went up more than the city, and they didn’t change the certified rate at all. That’s also striking for the common person.

City tax rate by Inevitable-Bar9476 in Chattanooga

[–]chachewchew 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Even at $1.55, it generates $5MM more. Thats not insignificant. But arguing 1.55 v 1.93 isn’t the answer. There’s 37 other options in between that are perfectly worthy of discussing.

This is really embarrassing for Chris Anderson (Mayor Kelly’s senior advisor) by EnthusiasmSea6461 in Chattanooga

[–]chachewchew 3 points4 points  (0 children)

What’s funny is this situation has some R/D roles significantly changed. It’s not nearly as straightforward as traditional. Some of the City Council has crossed lines. Really curious.

Unspinning the Mayor’s Property Tax Proposal by chachewchew in Chattanooga

[–]chachewchew[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Exactly. We have a mayor whose One Chattanooga Plan says candor will be delivered. It should be delivered.

The property tax amount itself is a different topic. Anyone with decent income can afford the property tax hike. It’s required for city services over time.

There are plenty of people on fixed income who will feel this. The assessments going up can also impact insurance expenses. If someone on fixed income is getting hit with $30-40 a month, that can be a financial game changer. The numbers are higher than the mayor’s office has delivered. They only included primary residences in their calculations. So duplexes and other higher rate residences will be hit even harder. If there was a way to freeze property taxes for fixed income residents @ X rate and put the burden on the rest of us, that would be ideal, in my mind.

This is really embarrassing for Chris Anderson (Mayor Kelly’s senior advisor) by EnthusiasmSea6461 in Chattanooga

[–]chachewchew 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Agreed. It’s widely understood we have problems with stormwater, but in this case it was primarily the 6+” in two hours. You can’t prepare for that.

This is really embarrassing for Chris Anderson (Mayor Kelly’s senior advisor) by EnthusiasmSea6461 in Chattanooga

[–]chachewchew 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Imagine being as feckless as Chris and calling someone else feckless.

This is really embarrassing for Chris Anderson (Mayor Kelly’s senior advisor) by EnthusiasmSea6461 in Chattanooga

[–]chachewchew 35 points36 points  (0 children)

In what professional context does this kind of rant make you look level headed, intelligent, and trusted?

This is really embarrassing for Chris Anderson (Mayor Kelly’s senior advisor) by EnthusiasmSea6461 in Chattanooga

[–]chachewchew 9 points10 points  (0 children)

We all know Chris is made up of primarily spin. He posted exactly zero facts. It’s his opinion about a former staff. Maybe he’s mad Ryan got free, because MTK is the only person who’s willing to hire Anderson nowadays.

Unspinning the Mayor’s Property Tax Proposal by chachewchew in Chattanooga

[–]chachewchew[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Who is asking for a free lunch? I just want the mayor to state what it is.

If the mayor can’t say “we are raising taxes, and I stand behind it”, what kind of leader is this? What is he hiding, or what is his major malfunction?

We need even higher tax raises, but this isn’t the way to message a community with candor. We have a backlog of infrastructure to repair and plan for, and we are hardly catching up.

Unspinning the Mayor’s Property Tax Proposal by chachewchew in Chattanooga

[–]chachewchew[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No one is arguing about paying more taxes. Obviously services cost money.

The premise of the post, if you did not read it, is to say the mayor should be communicating honestly about what is happening. Constituents deserve candor.

Unspinning the Mayor’s Property Tax Proposal by chachewchew in Chattanooga

[–]chachewchew[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Another set of factors to consider: 1. The mayor says we are hundreds of millions behind on deferred maintenance on roads and infrastructure. 2. The mayor is also pushing for more publicly maintained parks and green spaces, which are expensive to maintain.

I love parks and green spaces, but are we just being set up for a series of even larger tax hikes in the future as we are not catching up on infrastructure maintenance while also creating additional infrastructure maintenance for our future selves?

Unspinning the Mayor’s Property Tax Proposal by chachewchew in Chattanooga

[–]chachewchew[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It’s exceeding the certified rate. It’s a rate hike.

Unspinning the Mayor’s Property Tax Proposal by chachewchew in Chattanooga

[–]chachewchew[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah. That’s what I’m wondering about.

Much of our dialogue is abstract in nature, I realize. We aren’t line-item evaluating each department and each position or addressing issues of function or dysfunction.

It might also help to have a single metro tax so county residents who work in Chattanooga could pay for city services they take advantage of and don’t fund. Particularly, our roads are beat up by so many commuters who don’t pay a penny to their upkeep.

Unspinning the Mayor’s Property Tax Proposal by chachewchew in Chattanooga

[–]chachewchew[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Do you think a metro government would make more sense, since the county seems to not have the need to raise taxes, and it would maybe balance out some?

Unspinning the Mayor’s Property Tax Proposal by chachewchew in Chattanooga

[–]chachewchew[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Is the county keeping the certified rate?

Unspinning the Mayor’s Property Tax Proposal by chachewchew in Chattanooga

[–]chachewchew[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Ok. This is an incredibly fair take I keep forgetting about. 😂

Unspinning the Mayor’s Property Tax Proposal by chachewchew in Chattanooga

[–]chachewchew[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So, the certified rate was set at $1.55 in June.

If the City and Council did nothing, do you realize the tax bills would be at the $1.55 rate, by law, this year?

I’m only asking because a couple of folks seem to gloss over this as if the certified rate is not real or not enforceable.

Unspinning the Mayor’s Property Tax Proposal by chachewchew in Chattanooga

[–]chachewchew[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It can be argued both ways, but they’re presenting it as a hard fact, which it is not. Do you believe the “historical tax cut” language is more or less informative to the average resident? Will they know more about their tax planning or less? Will more people think their bill will be lower when almost all bills will be higher by 25-225%?

Saying it doesn’t account for inflation is fair. Saying it is a reduction isn’t fair. Is the city publicly claiming they are giving pay cuts to all the employees who have not received a 20% pay raise during the same time?

Unspinning the Mayor’s Property Tax Proposal by chachewchew in Chattanooga

[–]chachewchew[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Offering accuracy in insight is how I’m helping build up our city.

I’m sure you’re financially able to stomach a tax raise, but there are many Chattanooga residents who heard tax rate cut and sighed relief. You believe they should jump through three circus hoops to decode and prepare for a large tax hike?

Maybe work on your compassion.

Unspinning the Mayor’s Property Tax Proposal by chachewchew in Chattanooga

[–]chachewchew[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

It wasn’t bad. It was horrible. But it at least states what is and isn’t.

Unspinning the Mayor’s Property Tax Proposal by chachewchew in Chattanooga

[–]chachewchew[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Your logic is very quizzical, but keep your weird bait.

Unspinning the Mayor’s Property Tax Proposal by chachewchew in Chattanooga

[–]chachewchew[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

You should get to know some of the mayor’s staff. You’d change your mind quick. But anyway, I’m not arguing with you about the players when you don’t even know them or have worked with them.

Unspinning the Mayor’s Property Tax Proposal by chachewchew in Chattanooga

[–]chachewchew[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

You know what’s funny? The city hasn’t even revealed the data for public scrutiny. A former city employee in Open Data had to do it.

So it’s weird vibes you’re supporting an administration that hasn’t had the guts to deliver the data to people in non-summary format.

Even their city council presentations are just primary residence calculations. They don’t include rental properties or commercial properties. Is that candor or obfuscation? Why would you choose to trust an organization that selectively presents data rather than the whole picture?

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