The Grant Is Giving Pocket Change
🏪 Nashville businesses say grants won’t ease property-tax pain · Hospital adds pharmacy safeguards after wrong-drug errors · School board VP: Meta deal leaves TikTok, Snapchat untouched · Much more!
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They say help could be on the way for Nashville's struggling small businesses, but $525K is a drop in the bucket against soaring tax bills.
Last week, Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell announced roughly $525,000 in small-business grants across three programs, aimed at helping businesses with operating costs, workforce investments, and building improvements.
The grants come as downtown businesses face mounting property-tax pressure following a sharp increase in property taxes and valuations. While the funding could be seen as a gesture of goodwill toward Nashville’s struggling businesses, O’Connell has recently avoided directly framing the grants as a response to the city’s rising tax burden.
And for good reason: the property-tax burden facing businesses is vastly larger than the relatively small pool of money available through the grants.
Regardless, some business owners have pointed out the disparity, arguing the funding is simply too small to meaningfully address the problem. The Broadway Entertainment Association says some members have seen their property tax bills increase by as much as $500,000, making the grants a mere drop in the bucket.
The association continues to call for the governor to intervene and convene a special legislative session to address the tax increases.
Next week, the council will take its first look at the mayor’s legislation, which would establish the business incentives. If eventually passed, the Mayor’s Office says funding for the grants would come from local funding sources, like the operating budget, or community partners, like the Community Foundation or United Way.
✹ PROPERTY TAX CALCULATOR
What Moved Your Bill? Use our handy new tool to see what contributed to your property tax bill increase: the reappraisal or the rate hike. (Try It Out)
HEADLINES
- 💊 Ascension Saint Thomas Midtown added pharmacy safeguards a week after four patients got the wrong drug in their spines. Potassium phosphate was injected instead of the anesthetic mepivacaine during August 14 joint-replacement surgeries; at least one patient was left paralyzed. A hospital-pharmacy expert told NewsChannel 5 that barcoding, segregated storage, and a second pharmacist check are the layers most hospitals already preach and the same steps the hospital only announced after the mix-up. (NewsChannel 5)
- 🤳 Williamson County School Board Vice Chair Dr. Claire Reeves says the Meta deal still leaves Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, and Roblox mostly untouched. As reported yesterday in The Pamphleteer, AG Jonathan Skrmetti locked in child-safety terms and $751 million for Tennessee; Reeves argues Williamson’s away-for-the-day device limits are the local model and that Congress still needs to move Marsha Blackburn’s Kids Online Safety Act and the App Store Accountability Act. (Tennessee Star)
- 🏗️ Mayor O’Connell named Planning Director Lucy Kempf special advisor for the East Bank — and she’s keeping her day job. The appointment fills the development gap left after Bob Mendes stepped down and puts another set of eyes on the first wave of public projects: the Seigenthaler extension, Wasioto and East Bank parks, lowering James Robertson Parkway, and Marine Drive. (NBJ)
- 💸 Tennessee is in for more than $750 million from Meta’s $17.1 billion settlement over Facebook and Instagram. The cash goes into a Children’s Digital Protection Fund for youth mental-health work and enforcement; Meta also agreed to daily time limits and a midnight-to-6 a.m. blackout for minors. (Lookout)
✹ METRO COUNCIL WATCH
New Council Watch Features We've added additional features to Council Watch. In addition to who's funding your council member, you can now see how they vote and who they vote with most frequently. (Take a Look)
DEVELOPMENT
- Centennial Park debuts restaurant Croquet Cafe (Tennessean)
- New York’s Veselka Opens in Lakeside Lounge (Scene)
- East Bank Authority advances $80M in funding for Marine Dr. extension (Post)
- Chestnut Hill property previously eyed for project sells for $2M (Post)
- North Gulch building housing Pins sells for $15M (Post)
- Second Avenue building listed for sale (Post)
THINGS TO DO
View our calendar for the week here.
📅 Visit our On The Radar list to find upcoming events around Nashville.
🎧 On Spotify: Pamphleteer's Picks, a playlist of our favorite bands in town this week.
👨🏻🌾 Check out our Nashville farmer's market guide.
TONIGHT
🎸 Blondshell w/ Caroline Carter @ Ascension Saint Thomas Landing at Nashville Yards, 6p, Free, Info
🎸 Robert Lester Folsom @ The Blue Room, 7p, $31.65, Info
🪕 Mountain Grass Unit @ Brooklyn Bowl Nashville, 8p, $35.80+, Info
🥁 Live Jazz: Parker James, Paul DeFiglia, & Anson Hohne @ Vinyl Tap, Free, 7p, Info
🎸 Trey Pendley @ The Basement, 5p, $16.19, Info
🎙️ Open Mic @ Fox and Locke, 6:30p, Free, Info
🎸 Kelley's Heroes @ Robert's Western World, 6:30p, Free, Info
📰 Check out the full newsletter archive here.
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