An attempt to repeal Metro’s property tax increase via a charter amendment has failed in the courts again.
The Tennessee Court of Appeals on Friday ruled that 4 Good Government’s attempt to place a referendum on the ballot “is not proper under the cited statute. Moreover, because this appeal cannot serve as a vehicle to grant the election commission any relief, we consider the matter moot.”
The court declined to rule on most substantive issues within the case except for one. Judge Arnold Goldin, writing for the court, said that the multiple dates that appeared on 4GG’s original petitions were in violation of the Metro Charter, which calls for a single election date to be prescribed.
“Although the controversy over the case at issue is moot given our inability to potentially provide the Commission with any relief, we have found there to be sufficient public interest to warrant addressing the ‘prescribe a date’ concern raised in this case,” Goldin writes. “As to that matter, we agree with the trial court that the Commission acted illegally in deciding to hold a referendum election given the referendum petition’s failure to prescribe a single date for an election.”
The ruling deals a potentially fatal blow to the attempts by anti-tax activists and Republican members of the Davidson County Election Commission to repeal the tax. The DCEC’s GOP commissioners had voted to defend their actions in court and then appeal Chancellor Russell Perkins' decision after losing at the trial level. As of Dec. 31, private lawyers hired by the commission — including Vanderbilt professor James Blumstein — had rung up more than $700,000 in fees.
The Davidson County Election Commission must decide now whether to appeal to the state Supreme Court.
