Commission Overrides Mayor’s Veto of Discretionary Funds

CHATTANOOGA, TN (WDEF-TV) – Add 900-thousand dollars to Hamilton county’s budget this year.
Commissioners Wednesday voted 6 to 3 to over-ride Mayor Jim Coppinger’s veto of the amended budget passed last week.
There was very little little discussion before the controversial vote.

COMMISSIONER JOE GRAHAM "This is to override the veto? Yes. So, if we vote yes, we’re overriding the veto….if we vote no, we’re not overriding the veto? That’s right.! "

And the vote by the commission was the same as when they amended the budget–6 to 3. That 900-thousand in discretionary funds to be shared by all commissioners, will come from the rainy-day fund.

MAYOR COPPINGER "Disappointment….but again, not surprised…..and you know so that’s it in a nutshell."

Mayor Coppinger said it’s now a fact of life and time to move on.

MAYOR JIM COPPINGER "The commission acted certainly within their right to do it and they exercised their right to do it….we just again have a difference of opinion with the majority of them."

Moving through the agenda, commissioners heard two requests for Payment in Lieu of Taxes programs, the first from a Birmingham company that wants to spend 23 million dollars to build housing at 1400 Chestnut.

KIM WHITE, PRES.,THE RIVER CITY COUNTY "What they are proposing is 210 units of housing ….125 of those will be one bedrooms…85 will be 2 bedrooms and they are requesting a PILOT on the program."

The abatement would be for 10 years.
City council approved it two weeks ago.
Then, following on the heels of the announcement Tuesday that it would spend 160-million dollars for a new plant that will create 510 jobs, Gestamp also appeared to ask for an abatement on its new site.

CHARLES WOOD, CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT "It shows basically a 2.39 return on investment….in other words, for every dollar worth of incentives, the community, city and county combined get 2-dollars and 39 cents back."

The commission took the request for both PILOT programs under advisement.
Representatives from the Chamber of Commerce and Gestamp made that presentation to the city council Tuesday night.