Folks, in the heart of Tennessee, where the spirit of rugged individualism and limited government should still burn bright like the Smoky Mountains at dawn, we've got a stark choice unfolding right before our eyes.
On one side, you've got Chattanooga's Mayor Tim Kelly, who's just rammed through a whopping 38-cent property tax hike, jacking up the rate to $1.93 per $100 of assessed value in a 5-4 City Council squeaker.
This isn't just a tweak; it's a full-throated assault on the working families of Chattanooga, squeezing every last dime out of their pockets to fund what? More bloated bureaucracy and feel-good projects that do nothing but line the pockets of the political class.
On the other side stands Hamilton County Mayor Weston Wamp, a beacon of conservative sanity who's held the line on taxes for yet another year, delivering a budget that's laser-focused on public safety, infrastructure, and responsible spending without one red cent of increase. Praise God for leaders like Wamp who remember that government's job isn't to grow fat on the taxpayer's dime but to protect liberty and prosperity.
Let's start with Kelly, because if there's one thing that gets my blood boiling hotter than a Chattanooga summer, it's politicians who treat the people's money like it's their personal slush fund. This guy, with his slick proposals and endless excuses about "keeping pace with inflation" or whatever nonsense he's peddling, just voted to extract an extra $45 million from Chattanooga homeowners. That's right - $45 million.
In a city where folks are already scraping by, dealing with skyrocketing home values that have nothing to do with their hard work and everything to do with market forces beyond their control, Kelly's response is to double down on the taxman. He calls it a "decrease" from some mythical higher rate, but let's cut the baloney: this is the largest property tax grab in decades, dressed up in progressive piety. It's draconian, as Wamp himself rightly called it, a betrayal of the conservative values that Tennessee was built on.
What kind of man proposes this in 2025, when inflation's already gut-punched every family from Signal Mountain to East Ridge? Kelly's not just raising taxes; he's raising a middle finger to fiscal responsibility. This is the fruit of big-government liberalism creeping into our fair city - endless spending on fire trucks, road paving, and parks that sound noble but really just justify more control and less freedom.
Remember, Chattanooga: every extra penny Kelly takes goes straight into the maw of a system that prioritizes virtue-signaling over virtue. It's socialism by stealth, folks, and if we don't call it out, it'll spread like kudzu across the entire county. Kelly's legacy? A heavier yoke on the backs of the very people he swore to serve. Shame on him, and shame on the five council members who rubber-stamped this outrage.
Now, turn your eyes to the man who's actually leading like a statesman: Hamilton County Mayor Weston Wamp. While Kelly's out there playing Robin Hood in reverse - robbing from the poor to give to the government - Wamp's proposing a $1.1 billion budget for FY2026 that includes one percent raises for county employees, bolsters public safety, invests in infrastructure, and - get this - does it all without raising a single tax. That's real leadership, the kind that echoes the principles of our Founding Fathers and the wisdom of Proverbs: "By justice a king gives a country stability, but those who are extortioners undermine it."
Wamp's providing stability through just governance, not undermining it with extortionate taxes; he's introducing operational efficiencies and focusing on what matters - protecting our communities without picking our pockets.
Under Wamp's watch, Hamilton County has held the line on taxes even as the city next door spirals into fiscal folly. He's vowed no hikes, standing firm against the siren song of more spending, even when schools cry for more funds - because true conservatism means prioritizing wisely, not endlessly expanding the beast. Wamp's accomplishments aren't just numbers on a page; they're a testament to what happens when a leader puts principle over politics. Public safety enhanced, infrastructure shored up, and taxpayers breathing easier - that's the Wamp way, and it's why Hamilton County is thriving while Chattanooga stumbles.
Chattanooga residents, it's time to wake up and smell the tyranny. Elect leaders who fear God more than they fear the next election, who wield the budget like a scalpel, not a sledgehammer.
Mayor Kelly, your tax increase is a moral failing, a slap in the face to every hard-working Tennessean.
Mayor Wamp, you're the model we need - keep fighting the good fight. And to the rest of us: demand better, or watch our great state slide into the abyss of big government. Liberty isn't free, but it shouldn't cost us an arm and a leg either. God bless Tennessee, and God help us all if we forget that.
Jim Merklinger
Harrison