Can you summarize Jason Grant's platform for the Williamson County Commission and his proposed solution for long-term funding of school projects and public services? Answer according to: If you've ever attended a public meeting in Brentwood, there's a good chance you've seen Jason Grant.
The real estate broker and father of four said he takes civic engagement seriously, making it a point to attend planning commission and school board meetings. Now, he's running as an independent to represent District 6 on the Williamson County Commission.
Grant will face off against Republican candidates Erin Nations and incumbent Paul Webb, and Democrats Brigid Day and Ginny Kvochak in the Aug. 2 general election. The top two vote-getters from each of the county's 12 districts will earn a seat on the commission.
His platform calls for more efficient county government, adequate funding for schools infrastructure and safety, and transparency to taxpayers.
But its cornerstone is something Grant says is long overdue - the creation of a long-term funding plan by the county commission.
While roughly two-thirds of Williamson County Schools' operating budget is funded by property tax revenues, the county's 24-member commission has yet to develop a long-term plan to fund school projects and other public services, especially with a projected 10,000 new students enrolling in the school district over the next five years.
"The plan I envision takes into account what our citizenry wants, what they're willing to pay for it, and putting a plan in place so we can actually maintain our enhanced quality of life," Grant said.
"If we don’t have a plan, we have no way to address the problems until after they’ve already occurred, and by that time in a lot of cases, it's too late."
While he couldn't definitively say whether the county could implement a long-term funding plan without raising taxes, Grant does have ideas for rerouting existing taxes into the county's coffers.
For example, the realty transfer tax, which buyers pay when they purchase a home, is collected at the county level. For every $100 of a home's sale price, 37 cents is collected. Twenty nine cents of that rate goes into the state's general fund, but Grant says that's just a drop in the bucket.
So he crunched the numbers.
"If you kept 14 cents of those 29 cents in the county, last year for single family residential home sales, it would've been roughly $5.3 million that would've been kept in house," he said.
It would take action by the state legislature to change how transfer tax revenue is allocated, but Grant believes it's a viable solution and doesn't raise existing taxes on residents.
His run as an independent may not help him politically in the county, which is considered a conservative stronghold in Tennessee. But Grant said he wanted to stay true to himself.
"I've never really found a home with any political party that's out there. I believe at this level, this is more about neighbors than it is about party," Grant said. "We all want the same thing at the end of the day. We want low taxes and efficient government, a strong quality of life and a home we can be proud of."
He stressed that he has no aspirations for higher office.
Grant graduated from Brentwood High School in 1994, and worked in finance and consulting before switching to real estate in 2015.
Williamson County residents can vote for county commissioners representing their district on Aug. 2. The commission includes 12 districts, with two seats in each district. County commissioners review and vote on budgets for all departments of county government, set the county's property tax rate and review other resolutions related to county needs.
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