Dummy of the Week: Us.
🏆 Dummy of the Week: Us.
It’s Wednesday. We skipped Dummy of the Week last week, but this week’s “winner” is staring back at us in the mirror — because in Williamson County, even when you dodge one bullet, the state’s already reloading and handing you the bill for the ammo.
Last night, the much-debated Harlin Planned Unit Development — a proposal to annex farmland on Franklin’s fringe and fill it with luxury homes, shops, and offices — was deferred. But before hitting pause, BOMA voted 6–2 to approve an interlocal agreement with Williamson County — basically, a formal handshake that says “you handle your part, we’ll handle ours” — for a Coleman Road connection. Without it, there’s no second access point, no Coleman Road, and no Harlin as currently designed.
That interlocal now heads to the County Highway Commission (Sept. 3) and County Commission (Sept. 8). If the County says no, the whole plan gets sent back to the drawing board.
The debate was the usual Franklin bingo card: keep Hillview rural, protect “historic charm,” worry about density and “the feel” of the place. All the familiar characters showed up: the developers (greedy), the landowner (cashing in), BOMA (mostly wrong), the Hillview neighbors (exclusionary), the out-of-towners who swoop in to scold us about “preservation” (busybody gold medalists), and the city staff (masters of the slow nod and strategic delay) who can summon a procedural speed bump at will.
We have fun with this list, but here’s the serious bit: the real public-service villains aren’t the ones who argue over “feel” or shuffle papers — they’re the ones who vote “no” on everything, block progress like it’s a passion, and show up empty-handed when it’s time for solutions. Looking at you, County Commissioner Chris Richards.
More can be said here, but let's discuss the issue underpinning local development.
Pay More, Wait Longer
Tennessee’s to-do list comes with a $78 billion price tag. TDOT’s glossy 10-year plan looks fine on the cover, but flip inside and it’s the same old story: stagnant revenues, ballooning costs, and projects aging like milk on a sunny porch.
The state’s version of “partnership” is asking locals to bring a bigger check to get on the infrastructure dance card. Sometimes 20%. Often 50%. Sometimes everything.
Franklin’s already offered half of $100 million to widen Mack Hatcher Parkway from Columbia Avenue to Highway 96. In a normal partnership, that’s when the other partner says, “Perfect — let’s roll.” In Nashville, it’s when the music stops and the band leaves for a smoke break.
Thompson’s Station has tried the same — offering to cover part of the state’s work — only to get the shrug-and-smile routine. Cities everywhere are cobbling together impact fees, special taxing districts, and side deals just to earn a spot on TDOT’s slow dance card.
Mack Hatcher Impact
One of the hotly debated issues for the Harlin PUD is traffic impact, and Mack Hatcher Parkway sits squarely in the middle of the fray. The city’s own traffic study says that at full build, Harlin development would dump 1,920 extra cars a day — a 14% jump — into Mack Hatcher at Columbia Pike, leading to one of the parkway’s worst choke points.
And the widening of Mack Hatcher that could relieve it? Officially slated for 2040, though depending on who you ask it’s anywhere from “maybe sooner” to “don’t hold your breath.” Either way, Harlin’s traffic shows up in 2032, leaving as much as eight years of rush-hour Thunderdome before a single new lane appears.
Franklin’s $50 million is sitting there ready to go, but the state’s still in no hurry to match it. This is “partnership” in name only — and it’s the same playbook they run in Nashville when it comes to our schools.
TISA Squeeze
The Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement (TISA) formula replaced the BEP in 2023 and, like TDOT’s plan, gives more to districts with less.
For Williamson County, the fiscal capacity calculation says we’re rich enough to cover more locally. That means less state funding per student and higher property taxes here to make up the difference.
And instead of building the political coalitions needed to change that, State Rep. Gino Bulso sprinted to court to sue the state — the political equivalent of throwing a drink in someone’s face, then asking them for a ride home.
Meanwhile, families see class sizes creep up, parents write extra checks for basic supplies, and traffic turns a 12-minute school run into a 30-minute slog.
Where This Leads
Right now, “partnership” often means we pay half. Sometimes more. But if we don’t push back, the endgame writes itself: Williamson County paying for every inch of road, every classroom, every utility upgrade — while the state spends our tax dollars somewhere it’s decided is “more deserving.”
That’s not a quirk. It’s a trajectory. And every time we agree to it without strings, we lock in the precedent.
As for Harlin? Good news: Harlin has time to breathe. We’ve got a few months before it’s back on the agenda.
Bad news: the state’s playbook shows no signs of changing:
Take big local dollars to “speed up” state projects.
Shrug and push those projects years out anyway.
Leave Williamson County scrambling to fund the roads and schools it needs.
Make Williamson County taxpayers pick up the rest of the tab because Nashville says we can “afford it.”
The Harlin PUD deferral only buys us time. Unless something changes, Williamson County will keep paying more, waiting longer, and getting less — grinning like chumps while the state slides us the bill.
Which is why the Dummy of the Week trophy isn’t leaving our mantle anytime soon. Match our money. Build the projects. And stop treating Williamson County like the state’s favorite bottomless ATM — because even dummies know when they’re being played.