When Hamilton County Commissioner Tim Boyd tried to introduce a resolution in October 2017 that would mandate two votes before any tax increase could be passed by the commission, he couldn't even get a second for what he called "the most basic elements of transparency and good government."
When his resolution to do nearly the same thing was voted on Wednesday, it easily passed the commission 7-2.
What changed?
Well, the commission does have three new members, Chip Baker in District 2, Katherlyn Geter in District 5 and David Sharpe in District 6, none of whom voted on the de facto tax increase the commission approved in September 2017.
It's also possible commissioners who did vote for the tax increase - which this page supported - didn't want their constituents to think they were having second thoughts about the measure by supporting two votes instead of just the one they took.
And it's also possible the 2017 commission just didn't want to give Boyd, the only commissioner who voted against the tax increase, the satisfaction of being vindicated by allowing his two-votes resolution to pass.
Whatever the reason, commissioners and the public now will get 21 days and two readings of a tax resolution between the meeting at which it is introduced and the meeting at which it is voted on.
That way, commissioners, if they like, can hold town hall meetings with their constituents to gauge their opinions on a tax hike or to explain why they think an increase is warranted or unwarranted. Lacking that, it gives constituents plenty of time to digest how a tax increase would affect them and to contact their commissioner about their concerns.
We said in October 2017 the idea of extra time when voting on such a crucial issue had merit, and we haven't changed our mind.
Hamilton County Mayor Jim Coppinger laid out a good case for a tax hike in August 2017, the first one in 10 years, and the commission voted 8-1 to approve it. It had three main tenets, money for school construction and school maintenance, money for a new jail and money for a new sewage treatment plant in northeast Hamilton County.
Even Boyd said he liked the vision of the proposal but could not vote for it because eight days between the mayor's announcement and the call to vote wasn't enough time.
"Three [business] days to consider a tax increase of this magnitude is fiscally irresponsible," he said.
Since then, plans have moved forward for the construction of a new Harrison Elementary School and a new East Hamilton Middle School, Howard Middle School is being renovated and maintenance issues are gradually being addressed. No new jail building plan has been approved, but the Silverdale Detention Center is being enlarged and renovated to address some of the county's correctional needs.
A new sewage treatment plant was proposed last fall but hit a major roadblock in December when county commissioners did not approve money for a new plant at a site on Mahan Gap Road that Water and Wastewater Treatment Authority (WWTA) officials said would fiscally and geographically be the best location in the northeast county area. Area residents, however, declared they had not been given enough advance notice of the plant and said WWTA personnel did not vet enough sites in the area.
Still, Hamilton County now - at least for tax increase proposals - joins many other counties in the state, as well as the Chattanooga City Council and the Hamilton County Board of Education, in mandating two readings before a vote.
On Wednesday, Boyd said budgets (which would incorporate tax proposals), appointments and policy are the three most important items on which the commission votes.
"I think it's just good government and good policy," he said.
With budget season underway, the next question is just how soon the two-readings tax resolution might be employed. Commissioner Warren Mackey, in addressing Signal Mountain Middle/High Principal Shane Harwood at Wednesday's meeting, said he anticipates Hamilton County Schools Superintendent Dr. Bryan Johnson "is going to say he needs more money. I hope we can give you the tools you need."
For his part, Johnson has remained mum on the need for a tax increase, and Coppinger called a hypothetical tax increase a "worst-case scenario." Of course, in 2017, Coppinger talked about how much more support the schools needed before filing a budget with no tax increase, only to come back two and a half months later - with jail and sewage treatment plant studies in hand - and propose one.
Whenever one is proposed, though, it will now come with plenty of time for commission and constituent consideration.