A proposal advanced by Mayor Tim Kelly’s office that would raise the property tax rate to fund police and fire raises as well as a series of other priorities squeaked through the Chattanooga City Council by a 5-4 margin Tuesday evening.
It’s the first of two City Council votes the plan must clear before it’s officially approved. The second is scheduled for Sept. 9.
Council members Marvene Noel of Orchard Knob, Raquetta Dotley of East Lake, Ron Elliott of Missionary Ridge, Dennis Clark of Cherokee Woods and Jenni Berz of Brainerd Hills voted in favor of Kelly’s plan.
The board also narrowly shot down an alternative plan advanced by City Council member Chip Henderson of Lookout Valley. That plan would have raised the rate by 14 cents and implemented a series of cuts to certain departments in order to fund the raises for police and firefighters. Henderson and council members Jenny Hill of North Chattanooga, Jeff Davis of Hixson and Cody Harvey of East Brainerd voted in favor of that competing proposal.
Kelly’s plan will raise the certified tax rate from $1.55 per $100 of assessed value to $1.93, which would generate about $45 million in extra revenue for the city. Henderson’s plan would have originally set the rate at $1.69, but at the suggestion of Harvey, it was ultimately raised Tuesday to $1.73 in order to pay for and staff an additional ladder truck at Fire Station 21 in East Brainerd.