Mayor’s FY26 budget funds CHIME program office, adds youth-safety and housing staff

Marjorie Pomeroy Wallace, chief of staff for Mayor Freddie O’Connell, told the Budget & Finance Committee that the mayor’s recommended fiscal year 2026 operating budget creates a six‑person program management office to implement the voter‑approved Choose How You Move transportation improvement program (CHIME) and funds new mayor’s‑office staff for youth safety, violence prevention and housing coordination.

The CHIME program — approved by voters in November 2024 and funded by a dedicated half‑penny surcharge — is reflected in the FY26 operating budget, Wallace said, and the recommended mayor’s‑office team will provide centralized oversight and interdepartmental coordination. “We call that CHIME,” Wallace said during the committee hearing.

Kendra Abkowitz, acting program director for Choose How You Move, told the committee that CHIME received “60.6 percent of Nashvillians” support in the referendum and that the city has already taken procurement and staffing steps to stand up the program, including appointment of a chief program officer and issuance of a program‑management RFP. “Absent a central decision making and program management structure, the city…