City Council members debated for a second straight week if it is too expensive for the city to pay half the cost of a $13 million garage to serve the Tennessee Valley Authority.
“I don’t know if taxpayers should subsidize a 1,000-space parking garage for a federal agency, even if it’s going to help the convention center,” said Councilwoman Deborah Scott.
Hung up on the potential cost of the project, the council voted 4-3 last week against approving the city’s capital improvement budget.
The City Council met at 2 p.m. Tuesday in a special Budget, Finance and Personnel Committee meeting to discuss the capital budget. Some council members suggested alternative ways of spending the money, saying it might be used to help pay for street and road maintenance, as well as buying fire hydrants.
Councilman Russell Gilbert noted that the Wilcox Tunnel needs repairs. City officials said it would cost about $750,000 to fix the tunnel temporarily and tens of millions of dollars to fix completely.
Gilbert said the tunnel needs an immediate fix.
“Are you going to raise taxes?” Councilman Jack Benson asked.
BUDGET CONCERNS* $69 million: Total capital improvement budget proposed to the City Council* $13 million: Total price tag for parking garage to serve the Tennessee Valley Authority* $6.5 million: City’s portion of the total price tag for the garageSource: Chattanooga
“No,” Gilbert responded. “I’m going to take the money out of that parking garage.”
The council did not meet Tuesday night for its regularly scheduled business meeting because of obligations with National Night Out events.
The council has debated the capital budget for three weeks and will meet again at 2 p.m. next Tuesday to hash out details once more.
Mayor Ron Littlefield attended the Tuesday meeting and defended the parking garage, saying the city made a commitment to TVA to build the facility and he wanted to honor that deal. But he also acknowledged the council had the authority to override him.
“You can decide if you want downtown parking or (to) fix the Wilcox Tunnel,” he said.
He said the parking garage would aid more than TVA by helping development in an area in desperate need of parking.
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