An effort to build a consensus around an alternative proposal to fund pay increases for police and firefighters led to one Chattanooga City Council member storming out of the meeting and another denying that the plan had racist undertones.
Council member Chip Henderson of Lookout Valley led an at times contentious committee meeting Tuesday to discuss the plan, which as a starting point involved cutting money for certain departments and implementing a more modest hike in the certified tax rate. That would be an alternative to the more substantial 1.99% tax rate proposed by Mayor Tim Kelly’s office — an increase over and above the 1.55% certified rate.
As initially proposed, Henderson’s plan would have involved cutting 10% out of the City Council and executive branch budgets and 15% — or more than $1.6 million — out of community development. Many of the remaining departments would see a 5% cut. Public works, parks and the police and fire departments wouldn’t see any reductions.
Alongside a 12-cent increase in the certified rate, the plan would help the city set aside $9 million for the Police Department and $14 million for the Fire Department to fund pay increases, according to a document provided by Henderson.
After strong pushback from colleagues, Henderson ultimately said he would be open to raising that rate by a couple of cents to ensure there aren’t any cuts to the Department of Community Development.
“This budget is painful,” Henderson said at one point. “It’s going to be painful to taxpayers. It’s going to be painful to our city. What we’re trying to figure out is, how can we ease that pain so that everybody shares a little.”
Several council members had issues with the blanket cuts proposed under the plan. They questioned which City Council districts would see those reductions.
“Not one brown cent removed from District 8,” said Council Vice Chair Marvene Noel of Orchard Knob. “If you all are the ones that are having issues with the tax rate, then you take it from your district. You don’t even have permission to swallow a fly that’s flying in the area of the great District 8. Because it’s our fly. Don’t touch it.”
She also blasted plans to remove more than $1.6 million from community development, which oversees the city’s 19 community centers. The proposal has “so many racial undertones” she said.
Council member Ron Elliott of Missionary Ridge said community development plays a huge role in many Chattanooga neighborhoods, especially for Black residents. In his district, the Eastdale Community Center, for example, is the heart of that neighborhood, he said, and Glenwood Community Center serves as a senior center.
“I doubt anybody wants to touch a senior center,” he said. “They’ll be on you faster than white on rice. So I am very concerned about the lopsided nature of these percentage cuts.”
Several council members also had issues because the proposal included blanket cuts to city departments as opposed to presenting specific line item reductions. When she voted for the fiscal year 2026 budget in June, council member Raquetta Dotley of East Lake said, she wanted her constituents to see the full benefit of those services, pointing to the $1.6 million reduction to community development.
“That’s a big hit,” she said. “And we don’t know where that’s coming from.”
Council member Dennis Clark of Cherokee Woods sniped with Henderson and Council Chair Jenny Hill, saying it was irresponsible to bring forward a proposal that just included a percent change without specifically outlining the reductions to each department. That would be a difficult thing to explain to residents in his district.
“That’s not fair, and I want to support your proposal because I believe we need to cut, but I cannot do it,” he said.
Asked by Henderson for line items he would recommend they cut, Clark asked Hill how many community centers were in her district.
“Let’s cut them all,” Clark said.
Hill said Clark was making suggestions for show.
(READ MORE: Chattanooga City Council spars over property tax proposals)
“It’s sad to be on camera and to see us do this, because I think this is an irresponsible budget,” Clark said after more back-and-forth. “This is not even how we do our personal budgets … Here’s a show. I’m walking out. This is not responsible government.”
Clark collected his belongings and left the meeting.
Henderson is cosponsoring the alternative alongside council member Jeff Davis of Hixson. Henderson’s initial proposal would have raised the certified tax rate to 1.67%. However, Henderson ultimately said he would be open to raising it to 1.69%, which would provide enough funding to avoid any reductions to community development.
Hill, who also supports an alternative to the mayor’s plan, said she’s similarly fine with keeping community development whole.
“I feel like the body of my work … has not earned being called irresponsible, uninformed, racist,” she said.
“I never called you racist,” Noel chimed in. “I said it has racist undertones.”
“I have not found that the work that I do and the way that I do it would earn being called uninformed, irresponsible or done with racist undertones,” Hill said. “In fact, what I consistently am told by the community is that my work is thoughtful, that I’m a listener, that I’m curious, that I try to find practical responses, and I work hard to make sure that everyone belongs.”
She added that it is more responsible to allow department heads to decide the best way to allocate the money they receive.
Kelly is asking the council to approve a new property tax rate of 1.99%, which would generate an additional $50 million in city revenue. Less than half of that, about $18 million, would boost pay for police and firefighters. The remaining dollars would fund a list of other items, including expansion of the violence interruption program, a new community center security contract, a new deputy fire chief and a mowing maintenance crew.
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Chattanooga’s property tax rate is 2.25% annually of assessed property value. However, when properties are reassessed for tax purposes — as they are every four years in Hamilton County — the state requires local governments to lower their tax rate to a new “certified rate” that won’t create a windfall of new tax revenue.
The city’s new certified rate is 1.55%, meaning 1.99% is a reduction from the current rate and an increase from the certified rate. Annual property taxes on a $300,000 home would be $1,162.50 at the certified rate and $1,492.50 at the 1.99% rate. Under the mayor’s proposal, the increase would bringing starting annual pay for police to $54,021 and $50,421 for firefighters.
If the Henderson plan ended up at 1.69%, annual taxes on a $300,000 home would be $1,267.50.
Davis said he doesn’t doubt his colleagues have anything but good intentions.
“I had a lady in my district who actually moved to Chattanooga from a town in Georgia where she could no longer afford to live, given the property tax burden, insurance burden, all of the cost of living,” he said. “She made a very intentional decision to move here because she could afford it, and now she’s worried about that. And so that’s the impact that I’m focused on.”
Contact business reporter David Floyd at dfloyd@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6249.
