Chattanooga City Council rejects councilmen's $1.73 property tax proposal

The Chattanooga City Council has voted to reject an amended property tax plan from Councilman Chip Henderson in a narrow 5-4 decision, leaving Mayor Tim Kelly’s $1.93 proposal as the leading option for the city’s new budget. The vote followed weeks of tense debate over how the city can fund pay raises for first responders and maintain essential services while keeping property taxes affordable for residents. Henderson originally put forward a tax rate of $1.69 per $100 of assessed property value — a figure he argued would still support core services while sparing residents from the steeper hikes under the mayor’s plan. “Read my lips, this is a property tax increase,” Henderson told residents during Tuesday’s meeting, noting that higher property assessments across Hamilton