By Chris Butler | Tennessee Watchdog
NASHVILLE — Nashville may have more public employees than bankrupt Detroit, but City Hall says the city is in solid financial shape, regardless.
Mayor Karl Dean’s spokeswoman, Bonna Johnson , told Tennessee Watchdog in a brief statement that Nashville’s bond rating is solid. She also said 500 city employees opted to take early retirement this year, leaving the city with 8,881.
Using 2011 Census data, the Washington Examiner reported this month the city had 10,362 employees — or 58 city employees per resident. Nashville is reportedly one of 19 U.S. cities that, per capita, have more employees on the payroll than the Motor City.
“Part of the strategic planning for the retirement incentive was to force departments to look at their critical needs and restructure and reorganize where possible to ensure the most efficient operations,” Johnson said.
In her statement, however, Johnson did not clarify whether the city hired replacements for these positions or ended them outright.
About 1,590 city employees were eligible for early retirement, according to a news release, meaning only less than one-third accepted.
According to the Examiner, Nashville ranked 17th on the list of cities with populations of 200,000 or more that had more city residents per capita than Detroit.
Nashville has a population of about 601,222 residents.
Metro Nashville Council Member Robert Duvall had not seen the Examiner article when Tennessee Watchdog contacted him about it last week. Duvall said the city’s spending habits worried him, so much that he wonders when and if Nashville might have problems similar to Detroit’s.
Other than the proportionally high number of public employees and possible pension problems, the Metro Nashville government, Duvall said, might have possibly wasted $500 million on the recently opened Music City Convention Center.
Duvall also cited a recent 50-cent property tax increase as a reason to drive away residents. The city’s granting of tax breaks to various corporations also poses hazards to Nashville’s financial potency, he said.
A message seeking more specifics from Nashville’s Director of Finance Richard Riebeling was not returned.
The Metro Nashville government serves more than just the city — it branches out to the rest of Davidson County, and thus requires many employees.
“Therefore, we have numerous services to provide to residents over a very large area,” Johnson said.
Contact Christopher Butler at chris@tennesseewatchdog.org.
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