The rejoinder from Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly earlier this week came as if shot out of a cannon — no, to eliminating the city’s curbside recycling service.
“I want to be clear: I do not support this proposal and I don’t think the people of Chattanooga do either,” he said in a statement issued by his office. “It goes against who we are as America’s first National Park City, and it doesn’t make sense.”
Chattanooga Councilman Chip Henderson, the dean of council members and a fiscal conservative, had made the suggestion in a council meeting as part of a possible solution to finding money for raises for police and fire personnel without having to raise property taxes.
The mayor and his administration had presented their fiscal 2026 blueprint earlier this year. It balanced the budget and included raises for city employees, but it strategically did not include raises for fire and police personnel. That, the mayor hoped, would make it easier to request a later hike in property taxes because who would be against paying more to those who protect them?
The taxes debate will continue for several more weeks before council members have to take a vote on it, but recycling is worth its own discussion.