Official Statement from the A Voice Steering Committee on the Barnes Fund
We are saddened by Mayor Cooper’s recent decision to award only a partial round of $5 million in grants to the Barnes Fund, instead of the original $10 million. We recognize that irresponsible spending on downtown development and tax giveaways for corporate incentives has created a budget crisis which the Mayor and our city must address immediately. And though we applaud the Mayor and Finance Director Crumbo for closing the $41.5 million budget hole with $33.9 million in new revenue and for finding a solution that avoids cuts to essential city services, we are disappointed that the single largest deferral in spending came from funds designated for affordable housing.
Due to the nature of affordable housing development, the decision to delay $5 million in Barnes funds has put 131 affordable housing units leveraging an additional $26 million in outside private funding at risk. If Metro does not restore the $5 million or alternative funding is not found in the very near future, the proposed developments supported by the approved but unfunded Barnes Fund grants may not be built and the leveraged third-party investment could be lost. This would worsen Nashville's already severe affordable housing crisis and could lead to displacement or even homelessness for struggling Nashvillians who could have lived in the unfunded Barnes affordable housing units.
We urge the Mayor to put the housing needs of struggling Nashvillians first by working with affordable housing advocates to find a creative way to restore full funding for the Barnes Fund’s Fall grant round as soon as possible. We also ask that he reiterate the strong commitments he made to affordable housing during the campaign, which included: 1) dedicated funding for the Barnes Fund and 2) a comprehensive, long-term plan to address the affordable housing crisis. Given the severity of the crisis, we call on the mayor make dedicated funding part of next year’s Metro budget and to propose a comprehensive housing plan during his second year in office. Finally, we ask the Mayor to commit to an inclusive and equitable decision-making process for future critical decisions on the budget.