Departments Implement Measures to Restore Nashville, Bring Down Cost of Recovery for Nashvillians

As the local state of emergency ends and Nashville transitions from immediate response to long-term recovery from the late January ice storm, Mayor Freddie O'Connell is pursuing a series of cost-saving measures to directly lower cost pressures on impacted Nashvillians in addition to the support already available through the Winter Storm Recovery Fund.

With concerns over safety from the January winter storm dissipating, Mayor O'Connell allowed the local state of emergency to expire for Davidson County on Sunday, February 8. To support recovery, Mayor O'Connell through Metro Nashville Departments and local partners is taking steps to ease the financial costs of recovery from the storm for Nashvillians:

• The Mayor's Office is partnering with the Davidson County Assessor of Property to enact legislation that will allow property values to be reassessed if the home was partially or completely destroyed during the storm.
• Metro Water Services, at the direction of the Mayor, is seeking an across-the-board credit to water bills. Legislation will be filed with the Metro Council to authorize the action this week. Additionally, Metro Water is moving to implement payment plans for people who cannot afford to pay their full bill and will not charge late fees and will not be disconnecting service in February. Customers that experienced burst pipes or a leak that resulted in a higher bill can contact MWS Customer Care at 615-862-4600 and provide the date and type of repair that was made and receive a leak adjustment.
• Metro Codes, at the direction of the Mayor, intends to suspend permit fees related to rebuilding after the storm. Legislation will be filed with the Metro Council this week to authorize this action.
• Nashville Electric Service (NES) is implementing a series of relief measures to support financially strained customers in response to the significant hardships caused by the winter storm:
  • To provide immediate assistance, NES has suspended all service disconnections and late fees through June.
  • NES is introducing additional flexibility by offering unlimited payment arrangements for all customers through December 2026. This shift represents a major departure from the current NES policy to ensure that customers can manage their finances during the recovery period.
  • To help customers navigate these options, NES will enhance communication channels to provide swift, individualized assistance.
  • The NES Board has approved a $1 million donation to the Winter Storm Recovery Fund.

"This is the worst ice storm in modern Nashville history and, like any disaster, is resulting in unforeseen costs for Nashvillians. We want to ensure residents are supported in whatever needs they have and are rolling out Restore Nashville, which is focused on restoring people beyond restoring power," said Mayor O'Connell. "Not only are we offering multiple types of help-from help with water bills, property taxes, fees for repairs, housing assistance-we're setting up disaster assistance centers to help people see all of the resources we're making available."

The local disaster assistance centers are located at the Hadley Park and Smith Springs Community Centers. They open on Tuesday, February 9 and will remain open Monday through Friday from 9am to 6pm and on weekends from 9am to 3pm.

As of February 9, the Winter Storm Recovery fund had received more than $1.2 million in donations, and on February 5, the United Way of Greater Nashville disbursed another $260,000 to non-profit partners to help with the following categories of aid:

• Rooftop Foundation - $50,000 - financial assistance - housing
• The Hope Station - $50,000 - financial assistance - housing
• Conexion Americas - $50,000 - financal assistance - housing
• Elmahaba Center - $10,000 - financial assistance - direct assistance
• NeedLink Nashville - $25,000 - financial assistance - housing
• The Branch of Nashville - $25,000 - food assistance
• One Generation Away - $25,000 - food assistance
• TWKUMC Disaster Recovery - $25,000- disaster supplies - weather heads/ electrical

As of Monday, there were 1,582 cases submitted in the United Way needs tracker. The top needs continue to be financial assistance, generators, and tree and debris removal. In addition to visiting one of the local disaster assistance centers, residents with an unmet need from the storm can go to nashvilleresponds.com and click on the "Share Needs" button to complete the needs tracker, and anyone needing assistance completing the form, can call 2-1-1.

Volunteers with Hands On are also canvassing neighborhoods impacted heavily by the storm to identify individuals with unmet needs. Volunteers are needed to do the door-to-door canvassing and for weekend debris clean up events. To volunteer, visit HON.org.