The Tennessee Court of Appeals issued a ruling in the case Committee to Stop an Unfair Tax v. Freddie O’Connell on Tuesday which upheld a majority of a lower court’s previous ruling finding that the multi-billion dollar Nashville transit plan can be legally implemented.
In November, Davidson County voters approved a half-cent increase to the city’s sales tax to fund the “Choose How You Move” transit plan.
Last month, the Tennessee Court of Appeals heard arguments in the case challenging the transit plan brought by the Committee to Stop an UnFair Tax—the group that sued Metro Nashville, arguing that “Choose How You Move” is illegal under the IMPROVE Act, a Tennessee law that empowers cities to levy sales taxes to fund mass transit—after the plaintiffs appealed a previous Davidson County Chancery Court ruling that dismissed the case.
On Tuesday, Court of Appeals Judges Andy D. Bennett, Frank G. Clement, Jr., and W. Neal McBrayer issued a 16-page ruling affirming a majority of the trial court’s ruling except ruling that the funding collected for the transit plan cannot be used to purchase land for housing development or parks.
“The trial court found that the plan and ballot question complied with the [IMPROVE] Act in all respects. We affirm, except that we find that the surcharge in the transit improvement plan cannot be used for the acquisition of land for housing and parks,” the judges wrote in Tuesday’s ruling.
Regarding Metro’s intent to purchase land for housing development and parks as part of the funds generated for the transit plan, the Court of Appeals found that such projects do not fall under the IMPROVE Act’s parameters.
“We fail to see how the purchase of property for housing development and parks is consistent with Tenn. Code Ann. § 67-4-3201(3)…Metro will have to find other funds to accomplish this goal. We reverse the trial court’s decision on the purchase of property for housing and parks,” the judges wrote.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Photo “Freddie O’Connell” by Freddie O’Connell.
