• What Happened: Nashville raised Acme Feed and Seed's property tax from $129,000 to $600,000 in one year, more than the business's rent and net profit combined.
  • Why It Matters: Owner Tom Morales, who saved the Loveless Cafe and historic Woolworth building, says Acme will close unless the city intervenes, but Mayor Freddie O'Connell says "it's not up to me."
  • Bottom Line: Morales says he cannot even get a meeting with the mayor after spending 40 years preserving Nashville's authentic landmarks.

Nashville just killed one of its most iconic businesses with a tax hike so insane it makes no economic sense.

Acme Feed and Seed, one of the last authentic landmarks on Lower Broadway, is on the brink of closing after the city raised its property tax from $129,000 a year to $600,000. That is a nearly $500,000 increase. In one year.

"It's more than our rent and net profit combined," owner Tom Morales said. "We can't pay it. It's punitive."

Morales is not some corporate chain operator. He is a preservationist who saved the Loveless Cafe from demolition, helped preserve the historic Woolworth lunch counter, and brought Acme Feed and Seed back to life after it sat vacant for 15 years.

"My heart was to save the Acme building, which is a postcard of what Nashville once was," Morales said. "When I saw it had been closed for 15 years, I asked, 'How can we make it viable? How can we save this unique architecture?' I was leading with my heart."

Acme does not book cover bands or tourist traps. It features original music from artists chasing the same dream that once defined Music City. Tourists told FOX 17 News that Acme is exactly what they come to Nashville to experience.

"It felt real," one visitor said. "World-class musicians playing in a place where you don't expect it. That's what Nashville is supposed to be."

But now, after 40 years of preserving Nashville's history, Morales cannot even get a meeting with Mayor Freddie O'Connell. When FOX 17 News asked the mayor directly whether the city would step in, his response was chilling.

"It's not up to me whether he keeps that business open," O'Connell said. "The market evolves. New businesses start even as beloved old businesses close."

In other words, the mayor does not care. It is just business.

But Morales says this is not about profit. It is about preserving the soul of Nashville. "I've spent 40 years doing something for this city," he said. "And I can't even get a meeting."

Morales has filed a formal appeal of the tax assessment. That hearing is scheduled for a year from now. He says Acme will not make it that long.

This is what happens when woke Democrats run cities. They raise taxes so high that even the businesses that define the city cannot survive. Then they shrug and say the market will figure it out.

Nashville is destroying its own history. The city that calls itself Music City is killing the places that make it authentic. And the mayor does not care.

Tom Morales saved the Loveless Cafe. He saved the Woolworth building. He brought Acme back to life. And now, after 40 years of service, Nashville is forcing him to walk away.

This is not progress. This is suicide.