by Bracken Mayo

As the Murfreesboro City Council considers City Manager Craig Tindall’s proposed 2019–20 budget—one which calls for a significant property tax increase for those residing in Murfreesboro—many voters say that city leaders should keep the rapid growth of city government under control.

The proposed budget, if adopted in its current form, would raise the Murfreesboro property tax rate from about 94 cents per $100 of assessed value to a rate of $1.31 per $100 of assessed value, an increase of about 40 percent.

“Leave property taxes alone,” said Murfreesboro resident Susan Westerfield. “We are being robbed as it is!” She referenced the recent institution of a Murfreesboro trash pick-up fee, a mandatory $60 per year per garbage can that residents must now pay and a mechanism that critics say was really a property tax increase in disguise.

“The simple fact is,” said Steve Lane, “this council, led by [Murfreesboro Mayor Shane McFarland], has engaged in profligate spending that has far outpaced the city’s ever-increasing revenues.”

The proposed Murfreesboro rate of $1.31 per $100 of assessed value would compare to tax rates of .417 in Franklin, .607 in Lebanon and .758 in Hendersonville, according to comptroller.tn.gov. (Those figures reflect the city’s tax rate only; all homeowners must also pay a county property tax as well, which is $2.099 per $100 of assessed value in Rutherford County; Davidson County residents pay $2.755, while Cannon County residents pay $2.383.)

Jeff Rainwater noted that Murfreesboro’s city tax rate is already far higher than those of surrounding towns, “And we need to pay more? I think we should be discussing how much of a tax cut should be implemented this year. I compared us to Hendersonville, Lebanon, Franklin, Smyrna and Mt. Juliet. They have sports facilities. If I was a company looking for a home, I would stay away from a city with irresponsible spending habits. We have a spending issue, not a revenue issue,” Rainwater said.

“If you want more money, do the right thing—put it to a referendum. Let the people decide before you start taking more money out of families’ budgets,” Rainwater posted on the Mayor McFarland Facebook page, where the mayor and Murfreesboro constituents engage in discussion of city topics. “It is time to scrutinize every dollar with no sacred projects or departments.”

City officials say that even with the increased property tax rate in the proposed 2019–20 budget, the Murfreesboro property tax rate would still be lower than it was 20 years ago.

Though, with a much larger tax base and higher property values, city manager Tindall’s budget would grow the annual general fund expenditures from $172 million to $188 million (this does not include schools, water and electric departments, which are presented in separate budgets).

The proposal also calls for an additional 39 full-time City of Murfreesboro employees, with 25 of those going to the police department, and six going to the parks and recreation department.

The proposed general fund budget would primarily go to:

Police – 27%

Public Works (transportation, engineering, streets, parking garages) – 21%

Fire – 16%

Community Services (parks, golf, senior center, recreational buildings) – 13%

Administration – 10%

David Criswell cites figures that show while Murfreesboro’s population has increased 27% since 2010, the city’s budget has increased over 80% in those same years.

“There is plenty to cut. You just don’t want to cut it. It’s bragging rights for the city to have a golf course and soccer fields and airplane hangars. And so, here we are, deeper in debt, talking about raising taxes. I’m not advocating we cut teachers’ pay or do away with parks services,” Criswell said. “I’m talking about cutting airplane hangars, golf courses, etc. If the airplane hangar business is so great, I bet you’d have folks lined up to build them. So let them! Don’t put that on the backs of the citizens.

“Where was all this tax increase discussion when you were voting on $58 million for airplane hangars and soccer fields?” Criswell continued on Mayor McFarland’s online forum. “You knew people would be furious if you proposed a tax increase surrounding those issues. So what do you do? Pass it, then come back and ask for the money for schools a month later.

“You spent your grocery money on a trip to Disney World, and now you are crying about how you can’t afford to feed your kids!”

Numerous local voters do say that they enjoy living in a city such as Murfreesboro with great parks, a good standard of living, plenty of activities and businesses, low crime and, for the most part, quality services, and say the administration is doing a fine job growing the area into a larger town. Some property owners state they wouldn’t mind paying more taxes for the right to reside in a quality city.

On the other extreme, Brandon McNaughton says “Property tax is immoral. It implies that the true owner of a property is not the deed holder, but the government. Fail to submit, and the property is stolen from the deed holder.”

Many seem to simply want a rational government that protects and serves the area residents without taxing and spending too frivolously.

“There are things the city chooses to become involved in that should be left to private enterprise,” John David Floyd said. “Perhaps we should examine where our tax dollars are being spent. I for one see no need for multiple municipally owned golf courses, tennis courts, nor do I see a reason for city government to own land and give it away to prospective successful employers in the form of corporate welfare. Why should government compete with private citizens who wish to sell their private property? Hard to compete with free land versus paying a fair market price.”

Danny Pitts asks the council and the mayor to “please reconsider” such a drastic property tax hike. “We are taxed to death already—sales tax, wheel tax, gas tax, federal tax, SS, Medicare, city property, county property.”

With all of the new property owners in the city limits over the past 10 years, Tyler Weaver says he feels “There should be an excess of funds.”

Many residents want the city to raise the fees on new home construction, and to have those constructing and residing in the new homes in the city pay more of what their impact would cost, rather than placing such a burden on the existing property owners to fund the price of the growth caused by new residents and development.

“We have a study out right now on impact fees. We have been working and discussing this for almost six months to figure out a fair way to address,” Mayor McFarland posted.

___

The City Council will hold a public comment hearing on Thursday, June 6, from 7–9 p.m. at Murfreesboro City Hall, 111 W. Vine St. Find the City of Murfreesboro Proposed Annual Budget for FY 2019–2020 and contact and meeting time information for the City Council on murfreesborotn.gov.