Candidates for Tallahassee’s City Commission Seat Five race participated in a forum at WFSU’s studios Wednesday.
The forum was hosted by the Capitol Region News Collaborative and the League of Women Voters of Tallahassee. It featured incumbent Dianne Williams-Cox, as well as challengers Dot Inman-Johnson and Tifany Hill.
It covered topics ranging from recent votes, to what the city should do if a proposed property tax reduction is passed by voters during November's elections.
Williams-Cox said the city is being proactive in planning for reduced revenue if the proposal passes.
“We implemented a volunteer separation agreement where individuals could choose to take a payout and leave, that allowed us to reduce our staff by 5%. The general fund is where those property taxes come from in the city budget, but we also have other revenue-generating entities that will continue our services,” she said.
Inman-Johnson said she thinks the commission hasn’t done enough.
“The county has already identified $71 million that they may need to come up with to address this problem. If this issue passes, the city, and its budget session last week, didn't even provide detailed information on the pros and cons of what's happening with finances in city government, and how they plan to address it,” she said.
Hill said if it passed, it would call for a deep review of the city’s budget.
The candidates also addressed Tallahassee’s economy. Hill said she wants to see Tallahassee to attract more businesses that reflect local values.
“I think that Tallahassee needs to bring in more new businesses that can provide a livable wage, and also that they can be respectful of our environment as well, but we also need to support our local businesses here in providing funding for them to be able to provide livable wages for our residents here in Tallahassee,” she said.
Williams-Cox said the city is working on growth through the Office of Economic Vitality, and Inman-Johnson says she wants the city to work on bringing more industry to Tallahassee.
You can watch the full candidate forum here:
