NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — The Davidson County Election Commission has filed an appeal to the Tennessee Supreme Court to speed up the appeals process to find out more quickly if residents will be voting on a referendum this year.
The election commission is appealing to a higher court to take their case up immediately. Now, it’s in the court's hands on whether they move forward right away or take the long route making it play out in the court system, which can take months.
The appeal surrounds the fight over the Taxpayer Protection Act, which focuses on property tax increases in Davidson County. This became a huge issue last year when Metro's budget was approved with a 34% property tax hike in it.
The group 4 Good Government wanted to keep that from ever happening again, but two versions of the act have already been struck down by lower courts.
There are two sides to this new court fight over a third attempt – the county's election commission and the Metro government. Last week, a chancellor struck down the referendum to limit tax hikes, and now the election commission is appealing that. They even set an election date for September 21 in case they win this appeal.
Mayor Cooper has criticized the referendum and the use of taxpayer dollars on continued litigation that two judges already called unconstitutional.
An election commission chair says it’s worth it to hear from a higher court to get certainty.
Related story: Davidson Co. Election Commission votes to appeal judge's ruling on charter referendum
