NASHVILLE - Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke and mayors from Memphis and Knoxville on Wednesday urged members of a Tennessee Senate panel to reject a controversial bill that in some instances would allow residents in municipalities to vote to leave the cities.
"This bill is a little bit of a pig in a poke," Berke, a former state senator and Democrat, told the GOP-run Senate State and Local Government Committee during a special hearing on the "de-annexation" bill. "That's really what it is. We have something that's really not good for citizens and certainly isn't good for cities and the people who live around them.
"What we know is there are many, many unknowns," Berke noted, later adding that, while Chattanooga "is on a roll" right now, "as we look at this legislation, we know that good policies and leadership for many years have led to this and those same types of things can set you back."
Berke was joined by Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland and Knoxville Mayor Madeline Rogero in voicing alarm about the impact of the bill on cities' finances, stability and efforts to recruit new companies and jobs to the communities.
Two Memphis business titans, AutoZone founder Pitt Hyde and First Tennessee President David Popwell, expressed similar concerns about what they see as legislative interference in the state's engines of growth.
The bill, sponsored by Sen. Bo Watson, R-Hixson, and Rep. Mike Carter, R-Ooltewah, would allow residents of areas annexed since 1998 to vote to split off in referendum votes.
Ten percent of registered voters could petition for a referendum. Fifty percent plus one could force the splintering off of their neighborhood or section.
As recently passed by the House, Carter's bill narrows the scope of the original bill from all 350 or so municipalities to just five: Chattanooga, Memphis, Knoxville, Kingsport and tiny Cornersville in Middle Tennessee.
Last week, Watson sought to bring up the bill on the Senate floor, but opponents forced it back to the State and Local Government Committee, led by Sen. Ken Yager, R-Kingston. That resulted in Wednesday's testimony and the later addition of new amendments.
Strickland testified the bill could cause his city to lose 111,000 people, or 17 percent of its population, forcing tax increases not just for the city but possibly Shelby County, which would have to add dozens of new sheriff's deputies.
The Memphis mayor also warned de-annexation could result in potential losses of as much as $80 million in combined residential, industrial and commercial property taxes.
Under the legislation, would-be departing residents would still be on the hook for their share of bonds issued for improvements during their tenure. They could be paying property taxes for years.
And that, Strickland said, doesn't include millions more Memphis must spend to ensure the soundness of city workers' pensions, other post-retirement employee benefits and the need to hire new police officers "without trying to raises taxes."
Businessman Hyde said the House bill would prove "devastating" to Memphis and "creates a chaotic and disruptive environment."
Hyde and Popwell, also of Memphis, warned that businesses inside and outside Tennessee interested in expanding or locating here could become uncomfortable about the state's relationship with its major cities.
But Berke and other mayors are worried that, while the bill addresses former residents' obligations to pay their fair share of bonded indebtedness, it doesn't included millions of dollars they've spent on road and other infrastructure improvements out of existing revenues and not bonds.
While Deputy Comptroller Jason Mumpower said any departing residents would have to pay those costs, he didn't dispute the bill would not allow cities to recoup huge pension and employee post-retirement benefit obligations they incurred in the nearly 20 years when the residents were part of the cities.
Watson said the issue is giving unhappy residents a "voice." And he said if residents vote to de-annex, "you don't get to do it for free. You're going to owe something."
He also asked whether everyone found it "interesting" that all three mayors believe everyone eligible to de-annex will do so.
With questions raised about the constitutionality of restricting the bill to just five cities - Carter said he did so because their previous annexations by ordinance were the most "egregious" - Watson said he is backing the Senate version to include every municipality in Tennessee.
He suggested Carter winnowed down cities affected in order to get the bill through the House.
Senators added several amendments, including one that puts all cities and towns back into the bill.
They were unable to finish work on the Senate version during the hearing and work session, and Yager said they will have to return next week to complete work and give backers of the bill an opportunity to testify.
Yager told reporters "it's too close to call" whether Watson's bill will get through the committee. He thinks it's a 5-4 vote and which way it goes depends on what's in it.
Meanwhile, Watson could find that what's acceptable in the Senate isn't acceptable in the House.
House Finance Committee Chairman Charles Sargent, R-Franklin, said if the bill includes every city in the state, he will fight it.
Contact staff writer Andy Sher at asher@timesfreepress.com, 615-255-0550 or follow via twitter at AndySher1.