On Wednesday, State Comptroller Justin Wilson told Metro Council, "you shouldn't be selling your furniture to make your house payments." He threatened a State takeover of Metro Nashville if the city did not present a balanced budget. Below are news reports from various sources on the topic.
WTVF News Channel 5- .... Comptroller Justin P. Wilson made a presentation to the Metro Council's Budget and Finance Committee Wednesday evening. Wilson told members that the state will not approve the city's budget as it stands now.
"Despite all this wonderful growth and this booming economy that we have, metro government is cash poor," said Wilson.
Wilson says in the current budget there are non recurring expenses, meaning the city is hoping that selling one time assets can help plug in a more than $40 million budget hole year after year. He said in order to fix this, it comes down to to raising revenue, cutting expenses or a combination of the two.
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The Tennessean - ... "If action is not taken to come up with a budget that
is approved within reasonable time, then you will have decided, members
of the council, that the Comptroller takes the actions that the state
requires," Wilson said.
"Let me be clear. The
comptroller's office does have the authority to step in and determine
how you spend your money," Wilson said.
Without an approved
budget, the state can take control of the city's finances and decide
what gets paid, cutting first what state law determines as "optional
services."
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And the comptroller demanded that Metro adjust its budget as soon as possible, warning that the state already could have snatched financial control if not for a grace period being given to the new mayor, new finance director and new Metro Council.
“It’s up to you, the Metro Council, to make the tough but necessary decisions to keep this city on track,” Wilson said, describing the city budget as “just about as tight as you can possibly get it.”
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