CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – The City Council met on Tuesday for their first vote on the proposed budget, which includes a property tax increase. While they approved several cuts, there weren’t enough votes, and the budget failed 5-7.

The cuts included defunding and closing the Frosty Morn project, while transferring the property to the Community Neighborhood Services land bank/trust to create privately built and managed, affordable, low-income housing for senior citizens.

Councilperson Deanna McLaughlin brought the amendment forward. “We definitely have a housing crisis in our community, especially affordable housing for our aging seniors,” she said. “In looking at the deficit that we have in the budget, I was trying to come up with creative ways to get more revenue without a tax increase. And if we can take city property and put it on the tax rolls and also have a good feeling about trying to provide housing for people that desperately need it, this is probably the best way to do it.”

| MORE: City of Clarksville fiscal year 2026 budget overview

McLaughlin said the property is on a bus line and there’s access to amenities in the area. Neighborhood and Community Services Director Michelle Austin told the council this does track with their mission, and they can use all the housing they can get, but the department isn’t necessarily able to stand up a land bank at this time, since they are still in preliminary stages.

“We are also looking at a community land trust, which may better fit something like this,” Austin said. “But again, it’s not something that we can really decide at this moment. We would really need to look at all the factors to see what would be the best scenario for funding a project like this.”

‘That was the best attended public hearing’

Mayor Joe Pitts told the council that $4 million has already been put into the Frosty Morn project, which accounts for demolition, a new roof, some drainage and keeping the site secure. He also said with Frosty Morn, the city is trying to get a property in a legacy neighborhood that can be used for people who need it.

“They don’t have the means to drive or pay for venues across town, or in other places. We have determined through the planning process that Neighborhood and Community Services Department would move there and be the anchor tenant for that building, because that’s closest to the people they serve,” Pitts said.

“We have public spaces as well as we’re in conversations with a non-profit health clinic to open there and provide services to the neighborhood. And the public hearing that we had for this project … that was the best attended public hearing that I’ve ever seen. There was so much passion, so much interest in this project. So, I would ask that we not move money.”

While there was a motion to amend the amendment, it failed, and McLaughlin’s amendment was approved 7-5 with McLaughlin, Carlos Peters, Ambar Marquis, Travis Holleman, Jerry Haywood, Jimmy Brown and Joe Shakeenab voting in favor. Voting no were Brian Zacharias, Wanda Smith, Stacey Streetman, Keri Lovato and Pitts.

Budget fails first vote

Most council members proposed that departments take additional budget reductions, and while some suggested reductions were approved, it seemed as though it wasn’t enough.

On the final 5-7 budget vote, Zacharias, Smith, Streetman, Shakeenab and Pitts voted in favor, while McLaughlin, Peters, Marquis, Holleman, Haywood, Brown and Lovato voted against.

Here were some highlights previously reported going into the meeting:

When asked about the timeline for the budget moving forward, the city responded by saying they will revisit the budget with a new proposal, next week.

This article has been updated with additional information. 

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