In this week's "Ask The Mayor" program, we visit with Nashville municipal consultant Dax Norton and talk COVID during tourism season, police budget, and more.
On this week’s installment of Ask The Mayor, Nashville's Municipal Consultant Dax Norton addresses these issues and more. Listen to the full conversation with Indiana Newsdesk anchor Joe Hren by clicking on the play button above, or read some of the questions and answers below. A portion of this segment airs 6:45 and 8:45 a.m. Wednesday on WFIU.
This conversation has been edited for clarity and conciseness.
Hren: We've heard in Monroe County that testing centers are coming back, also reported the state is working on that too, Brown Co. was in the 'red' state COVID metric and now orange, what's the next step in Nashville?
Norton: Same, testing center came back to the Music Center, I believe and, people are still pretty diligent on doing the things they need to do to stay safe in the county. In Nashville, it seems that it's still on people's minds. So it hasn't gone away. But there are still business owners who are requiring face coverings in their businesses, there are others who aren't.
But I think everybody is understanding that we're going to get a lot of people that don't live there and so hard to control that population. This year, there weren't really any mandates that were brought brought upon by the governmental entities. Just common sense, common courtesy. There are mechanisms that can be used to remove you from this facility. I don't think we've seen a lot of out of the ordinary or angry or people who aren't courteous to others.
Hren: What elements do local leaders need to make those decisions on COVID?
Norton: I think it's a matter of, is it out of control? Do we feel it's out of control, especially on the sickness side? It's out of the hands of the health department now and back into the hands of the the town council and I believe the county commissioners. Both have stated we're not going to mandate anything.
I think that they've used all the information they could possibly use from medical sources to make those decisions and now it's always been kind of a wait and see. The schools had to change course. Most schools in the state change course. Didn't even get a month in before you start seeing mask mandates coming down in the school systems all the way up to the high school.
Hren: The Brown County Democrat reported on trying to increase the town's police budget in what's already a tight budget, not everyone seemed to be on board. What the issue there?
Norton: I try to encourage them - their number one role is to watch out for the taxpayer dollars. And sometimes that's overlooked. I know, in my career, it's been overlooked by other elected officials I've worked with. And so I think a couple of them really wanted to dive into the budget this year, and see if they're spending money on their priorities? I think, yes, they've done so. They realize that it's a small budget. There's not a lot of things to cut. Maybe there's a better way to spend monies that are coming in on different items.
24/7 security from a policing perspective is is important. And how do you fund it and fund other priorities? And so I think that's what they're doing right now. They're really taking apart some of the additional funds, not just the general fund. I think people are used to the budget as being not a rubber stamp, but a budget as small as the town of Nashville has, is really just not a lot of room to work with. And public safety takes up a good portion of it.
But I think they've just asked, especially the chief police, can you give us facts? And please let the public know why it cost this much money to run a 24/7 department and why we would need one. So good questions asked.
READ MORE: Council Wants More Money For Bloomington Police, Says BPD Is 'A Sinking Ship'
Hren: It's interesting to hear some of the same issues pop up in different communities, because we just talked about the Bloomington police who say they are overworked, underpaid, they're leaving to other communities. The city maintains the budget is fair, and it's just not a great time to see people entering the police force. Does that sound familiar at all to you?
Norton: I bet we could talk to 10 communities and we can get the same 10 answers, Joe. I think what this comes down to potentially is a Statehouse issue, and how budgets are actually allowed to handle revenue, levy controls that we have here, along with the constitutional tax capsule put into place 10 to 12 years ago that's now putting a strain on local budgets to the point where, what does it cost to operate in revenue is really coming in to cover those operational costs. Not not fat in the budget, not overspending, not using money the wrong way.
I think that most communities I've worked with, they use it the right way, there's just not enough money, especially in places like Nashville that has had stagnant growth. That's not a bad word. It's just it hasn't. Communities that have tremendous growth, they can get the revenue they need, based on the percentage of growth.
It's really tough to keep up with the current costs of these items, as these things change. Radios cost more than they did, I think I heard the other day vehicles are at an all time high for a new vehicle, probably 30% higher because of the market. So I think we really need to look at working with our legislators in Indianapolis to figure out different remedies.
Hren: We've been talking about how the town has to also fund water, sewer infrastructure, but grants would be key in that.
Norton: I will thank the state, 23 communities received the grant money from the SWIF program, which is the State Water Infrastructure grant fund that was created from the $50 million of the $100 million the state received from RPA capital projects money from the federal government.
Nashville received $2 million. Our ask was, I think $5 million. And it will help rehabilitate the wastewater treatment collection system and plant. And now the now the Utility Service Board and the Council have to talk about additional capital projects.
But yes, you bring up another really good point of what's probably inching our way to becoming the state's number one crisis. And that is the provision of safe for service and provision of note, taking that use water away from your home and treating it. I think I heard a stat of $1.7 billion is needed just to fix small systems in the state of Indiana - just to fix and does not expand and does not innovate and increase technological capacity. And I think I heard 500 some communities applied for assistance through the swift grant program - 23 were funded. So that should tell you something.
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