LPRs not listed in Nashville Mayor's proposed budget
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — For the second year in a row, Nashville Mayor Freddie O'Connell has not included funding specifically for license plate recognition technology in his proposed budget. Although O'Connell told News 2 he believes there is room in the numbers to include LPRs, not everyone agrees.
Two weeks ago, Metro Councilmember for District 26, Courtney Johnston, was eager to see whether O'Connell would fund LPRs in his 2026 budget after no funding for the technology was proposed for the 2025 fiscal year.
Highlights from Mayor Freddie O'Connell's State of Metro Address and proposed budget for fiscal year 2026
'That shows you his intent,' Johnston told News 2 on April 18. If he fails to fund, he has no intention of moving forward the contracts.'
In his proposed budget, O'Connell set aside $24.7 million dollars for the Metro Nashville Police Department. However, it didn't mention LPRs specifically. O'Connell told News 2 that doesn't necessarily mean the technology is entirely out of the question.
'If we can get our proposed LPR policy framework through the Metro Council, we believe we could fund that initiative,' O'Connell said. 'And I think there would be many different opportunities. You're not going to see a line item in there for it, but I think the capacity is there.'
Yet Johnston said she thinks the omission sends a different message.
'The police department asked for $2.8 million in this year's budget in order to fund the LPR program and that is peanuts in a $3.8 billion budget,' Johnston said. 'And I think there's no better way to spend money — taxpayer dollars — than to improve safety.'
Johnston added that Metro Council had previously passed an LPR policy. She said the next step is waiting on vendor contracts from the mayor's office.
Metro Councilmember for District 32, Joy Styles, was also frustrated to see another year of LPRs not mentioned in the budget.
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'Representing a district that is majority-minority — I have minority constituents that are begging for it; I have minority business owners that are begging for it,' Styles told News 2. 'To have to explain our mayor is just basically playing games and not valuing what Nashvillians want — it's a horrible place to be put in.'
A recent Vanderbilt University poll found more than 80% of Nashville residents polled were for LPRs — as long as there were restrictions on how the data was used.
Both Styles and Johnston hope to see amendments to the budget, specifically funding for LPRs, before it passes.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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