Council budget chair details $8.59 million substitute budget focused on eviction counsel, homelessness and community programs

Council Member Toombs, the budget chair, said the Metro Council substitute budget totals $8,589,300 and is made from reallocated existing funds rather than new revenue. "So, the total funding for the substitute is 8,589,300," Toombs said, framing the package as a set of targeted investments intended to stretch limited resources to reach more residents.

The substitute increases eviction right-to-counsel funding by $2.1 million, bringing that program to $4.5 million overall from the mayor's proposed $2.4 million. Toombs said the program is led by the Legal Aid Society and the Hispanic Bar Association to provide legal assistance for tenants facing eviction. "In eviction court, the probably 99% of the landlords are represented by counsel and less than 1% of the tenants have any legal counsel," she said, describing the reasoning for the expansion.

Other notable allocations in the substitute include $1.25 million added to the Office of Homeless Services for continued management support of the Rodeway Inn (the Hospitality Hub), a $1 million increase to the Barnes Fund (bringing its budgeted total to $23 million) to support affordable housing production, and $401,500 to expand the REACH program so a second night unit can respond to behavioral-health calls without armed officers.

Toombs also listed a set of grants and appropriations for community organizations: $250,000 to the Urban League of Middle Tennessee for workforce development; $60,000 to the PECA Community Center for spay/neuter services; $100,000 for food-access and English classes at The Branch; $101,800 to add a second social worker in General Sessions Court; and $75,000 to CASA for juvenile-court representation, among others.

The substitute funds an $800,000 performance audit of Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) to examine spending and outcomes. Toombs said the audit will involve an education expert as well as the city's internal audit department to analyze return on investment given that MNPS comprises a large share of Metro's budget.

On administrative items, the substitute restores $200,000 to the Trustee's office for open-government payment software and includes $204,000 for downtown branch library services and shuttle support.

Toombs emphasized the substitute is not an expansion of Metro's total budget but a reallocation within the revenue projection set by the finance director. She noted trade-offs required to fund the package and that some wish-list items were funded through other sources or absorbed by departments rather than placed in the substitute.

The Council is scheduled to vote on the substitute budget on Tuesday; until that formal vote the proposal is not law, Toombs noted. "We vote on Tuesday," she said. If passed, the allocations would be implemented within the constraints and procedures governing Metro appropriations.

Next steps: the Council's formal vote will determine whether these reallocations become part of Metro's fiscal-year budget.