§ 2.01. Specific powers.

The metropolitan government of Nashville and Davidson County shall have power:

1.

To levy and collect taxes upon all property excepting only property exempt from taxation by general law.

2.

To levy and collect taxes upon all taxable privileges and to license and regulate such privileges and privileged occupations.

3.

To make appropriations for the support of the metropolitan government, for any other purpose authorized by this Charter and for any purpose for which a county or city is authorized by general law to appropriate; and to provide for the payment of the debts and expenses of the metropolitan government and also the debts and expenses of the county and the city of which it is the successor.

4.

To borrow money for the purposes and in the manner provided by article 7, or other provisions of this Charter.

5.

To purchase, lease, construct, maintain or otherwise acquire, hold and operate any building or other property, real or personal, for any public purpose, and to sell, lease or otherwise dispose of any property, real or personal, belonging to the metropolitan government.

6.

To establish, maintain and regulate, free of sectarian influences, a system of free schools.

7.

To make regulations to secure the general health of the inhabitants and to prevent, abate and remove nuisances.

8.

To lay out, open, extend, widen, narrow, establish or change the grade of, close, construct, pave, curb, gutter, adorn with shade trees, otherwise improve, maintain, repair, clean and light streets, roads, alleys and walkways of the metropolitan government.

9.

To provide for the creation, maintenance, building or purchase and operation of waterworks, electric power system, gas plants, transportation facilities, public airports, and any other public utility, including sewers and a sewage disposal system; to fix such rates and provide for the making of such charges and assessments as are deemed necessary for the proper furnishing of such services; and to provide liens or penalties and withdrawal of service for refusal or failure to pay same.

10.

To provide for the prevention and punishment of vice, obscenity, immorality, vagrancy, drunkenness, riots, disturbances, disorderly houses, bawdy houses, gambling and gambling houses, lewd exhibitions, disorderly conduct, the carrying of concealed weapons, and breaches of the peace.

11.

To regulate or prohibit junk dealers; pawnshops; the manufacture, sale or transportation of intoxicating liquors, the use and sale of firearms, the use and sale of firecrackers, fireworks and to regulate the transportation, storage and use of combustible, explosive and inflammable materials, the use of lighting and heating equipment, and any other business or situation which may be dangerous to persons or property.

12.

To provide for the taking and appropriation of real property within the area of the metropolitan government for any public purpose, when the public convenience requires it and in accordance with the provisions of Tennessee Code Annotated, section 29-16-101 et seq.

13.

To provide and maintain a system of pensions and retirement for officers and employees of the metropolitan government and of the county and the city to which it is successor.

14.

To accept or refuse gifts, donations, bequests or grants from any source for any purpose related to the powers and duties of the metropolitan government.

15.

To establish, maintain and operate public hospitals, sanatoria, convalescent homes, clinics and other public institutions, homes and facilities for the care of the sick, of children, the aged and the destitute.

16.

To establish, maintain and operate a jail and a workhouse.

17.

To make special assessments within the urban services district, pursuant to Tennessee Code Annotated, sections 7-32-101 through 7-32-141.

18.

To acquire, own, maintain and operate public parks and playgrounds, and to equip and improve them with all suitable devices, buildings and other structures.

19.

To collect and dispose of garbage and other refuse within the urban services district, and to regulate the collection and provide for disposal of garbage and other refuse within the general services district.

20.

To provide, or aid in the support of public libraries.

21.

To regulate the erection of buildings and all other structures, to compel the owner to provide and maintain fire escapes and other safety features, and to provide fire districts or zones and building zones; to prohibit, regulate or suppress, or provide for the destruction and removal of any building or other structure which may be or become dangerous or detrimental to the public.

22.

To fix the fares or rates to be charged for carriage of persons and property by any vehicle held out to the public use for hire within the area of the metropolitan government and not operated over a fixed route; to require indemnity bonds issued by surety companies or indemnity insurance policies to be filed by the owner or operator of such vehicle for the protection of any person against loss by injury to person or property; and to make all needful regulations with respect to the operation of such vehicles.

23.

To grant rights-of-way through the streets and roads, and over the bridges and viaducts, for the use of public utilities.

24.

To improve and preserve the navigation of the Cumberland River, within the metropolitan government; to erect, repair and regulate public wharfs, docks and landings, and to fix the rate of wharfage thereat; to regulate ferries; and to regulate the stationary anchorage and the mooring of vessels or rafts.

25.

To regulate zoning.

26.

To establish standard weights and measures; and to provide standards of quality for all food products used for human consumption.

27.

To provide for the inspection and weighing or measuring of lumber, building material, stone, coal, wood, fuel, hay, corn and other grain.

28.

To regulate, tax, license or suppress the keeping and going at large of animals, including domestic fowl; and to impound the same and in default of redemption to sell or kill the same.

29.

To provide for the protection of animals and children, and to prevent cruelty to same.

30.

To regulate the operation of motor vehicles and exercise control over all traffic, including parking, upon or across the streets, roads, alleys and walkways of the metropolitan government.

31.

To regulate, by license or otherwise, plumbers and electricians and plumbing and electrical work.

32.

To examine and license stationary engineers engaging in operating steam plants within the metropolitan government.

33.

To regulate the emission of smoke, the installation and maintenance of fuel-burning equipment, and the methods of firing and stoking furnaces and boilers.

34.

To regulate the operations, fees and services of private fire departments maintained outside the area of the urban services district; and to enter into contracts for the furnishing of fire protection outside the urban services district.

35.

To collect service charges to defray installation and operation costs for furnishing services beyond the limits of the urban services district when such services are a function of the urban services district.

36.

To create, alter or abolish departments, boards, commissions, offices and agencies other than those specifically established by this Charter, and to confer upon the same necessary and appropriate authority for carrying out of all powers, including the promulgation of building, plumbing, zoning, planning and other codes; but when any power is vested by this Charter in a specific officer, board, commission or other agency, the same shall be deemed to have exclusive jurisdiction within the particular field.

37.

To enter into contracts and agreements with other governmental entities and also with private persons, firms and corporations with respect to furnishing by or to the other services and the payments to be made therefor.

38.

To determine such offices for which bond shall be required and the amount thereof.

39.

To provide penalties for violations of any ordinance adopted pursuant to the authority of this Charter or of general law.

40.

To pass all ordinances necessary for the health, convenience, safety and general welfare of the inhabitants, and to carry out the full intent and meaning of this Charter, as fully as if specifically authorized.

(Res. No. 88-526, §§ 3, 4, 10-4-88)

4. Constable is a constitutional officer, and office cannot be abolished by metropolitan government. Glasgow v. Fox, 214 Tenn. 656, 383 S.W. 2d 9 (1964).