Today, Mayor Freddie O'Connell joined Metro Council Budget and Finance Committee Chair Delishia Porterfield, and Vice Chair Kyonzté Toombs to sign the city's approved Fiscal Year 2026 budget. The budget funds Mayor O'Connell's Community Improvement Program, a reasonable approach to responsible governing that prioritizes quality schools, reliable services, and safe neighborhoods for all Nashvillians.
"We're moving forward with a common-sense, balanced budget that delivers on the quality schools, reliable services, and safety Nashvillians deserve," Mayor O'Connell said. "I am grateful for the thoughtful work of Chair Porterfield and the Metro Council in passing a fiscally responsible budget that improves the core government services we all rely on. Our approach to fund balance policy included budget stabilization so we can weather any economic uncertainty we may experience in the year ahead."
The development of the mayor's recommended budget is a months-long process that includes working with departments to identify staffing and operating needs, revenue and expenditure projections for the year ahead, and, in a reappraisal year, the recommendation of a property tax rate. The Metro Council then conducts departmental hearings, public hearings, and work sessions before voting on the final budget.
"I am grateful for Chair Porterfield's leadership and appreciate her, the Budget and Finance Committee, and our Metro Council Office staff for all their hard work during this budget season," Vice Mayor Angie E. Henderson said. "This annual collaboration between the Mayor's Office, Metro Finance, Metro departments, and the Council is a major undertaking, and I am proud of everyone who actively participated in balancing so many needs and priorities, in an especially challenging year."
"I want to thank Mayor O'Connell for presenting a strong, values-driven budget that laid the foundation for this substitute budget," said Chair Porterfield. "His commitment to employee pay, education, and affordable housing created the path for the progress we're advancing with this budget."
The $3.8 billion budget includes a combined property tax rate of $2.814, the lowest property tax rate since the founding of the Metro Nashville and Davidson County government. It's also the lowest property tax rate among Tennessee's largest cities and is one of the lowest rates in the country.
"The Metro Nashville budget is built with financial stability in mind, as the city weathers significant inflation, national market volatility, the threat of cancelled federal grants and reduced federal funding, and the phase-out of COVID-era funding," said Metro Nashville Director of Finance Jenneen Reed.
In the 62nd State of Metro address, Mayor Freddie O'Connell outlined in detail his priorities for the budget, and you can read more about the emphasis on core pillars of government.
Schools
On the heels of the highest graduation rate in the city's history, the approved budget continues many of the programs that have proven to be resoundingly successful. Mayor O'Connell proposed $64.5 million to continue programs that would have been cut as federal funding expired, such as mental health supports, college and career readiness, summer tutoring, safety ambassadors, and nurses in every school.
To ensure Nashville's teachers remain some of the most well paid in the state, the budget funds a three percent cost of living increase and fully-funded step increases.
To bolster school safety, the budget funds 23 additional school resource officers and new safety technology.
Services
The FY26 budget focuses on services that make direct improvements to quality of life. That list includes common-sense improvements like better lighting and security in parks, standing up the Waste Services Department to offer reliable trash and recycling pickup, nighttime codes inspectors that respond whenever you need them, healthcare for moms and infants through the citywide Nashville Strong Babies program, summer youth programming like the mentorship programs provided by the Nashville After Zone Alliance (NAZA), and early literacy partnerships like Begin Bright that puts a library in every daycare center.
It is also the first budget book to reflect the dedicated funding for transit improvements through the voter approved Choose How You Move program.
Housing
The biggest thematic focus is on housing where Mayor O'Connell proposed a $45 million investment that utilizes all of the city's tools outlined by the recently released Unified Housing Strategy.
That investment will supplement the work of efforts that span the spectrum from rapid rehousing for homelessness to anti-displacement work, like funding for needed home repairs for older adults.
The budget also invests in the city's Barnes Housing Trust Fund and expands a residential payment in lieu of taxes program to incentivize construction and rehabilitation of affordable homes.
The Mayor's Office will add a housing coordinator to align the work across various departments, agencies, and the public and private sectors.
Safety
Keeping Nashville a safe and welcoming city is a core responsibility of the local government and the budget invests in the community and emergency response resources necessary to deliver on this core function.
The budget makes significant investments into one of the fastest growing areas of the city, South Nashville, with the addition of a new fire truck company as well as the operational needs associated with opening the new Southeast Nashville police precinct later this year.
When emergency response is needed, the budget increases the capabilities for the city to dispatch the right response for the situation by expanding the NFD's REACH program to pair additional fire and medical units with mental health clinicians. It also makes permanent MNPD's new flex unit, the D Unit, to respond to areas of greatest need around the county, and it delivers on the transit security division within MNPD envisioned in the voter approved Choose How You Move Transit Improvement Program.
The budget also invests in upstream crime prevention efforts by standing up a Mayor's Office of Violence Reduction to work hand-in-hand with the recently formed Mayor's Office of Youth Safety, and it supports the people who survive interpersonal violence and abuse by adding six staff to the Office of Family Safety.
The city's financial position is even stronger this year with a $74.9 million budget sustainability reserve included in the budget. This reserve acts like a rainy-day fund that helps Metro withstand unforeseen downturns, unexpected expenses, and drops in revenue and can be used to balance the budget in future years if needed.
The full budget book will be posted on Nashville.gov.
The Fiscal Year 2026 budget will begin on July 1, 2025, and runs through June 30, 2026.
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