A group has emerged to advocate for the mayor's property tax increase proposal:

Moving Nashville Forward, billed as a “grassroots coalition,” hopes to mobilize citizens to support the mayor’s tax increase plan, which the group says is essential to make key investments in public education and safety. The organization announced its creation Monday, one day before the mayor’s proposed 53-cent hike to the property tax rate heads before the Metro Council on the first of three votes.

“We see it as a major priority,” said Erik Cole, a former two-term East Nashville councilman. “We also know it’s a very difficult decision.

“We want to be there to work with the community and talk with folks over the next few weeks, and talk with council members to try to garner their support for greater revenue in the city,” he said.

For now, Moving Nashville Forward consists of only three players: Cole, who held the council’s District 7 seat from 2003-2011; Michael Joyner, pastor of Greater Faith Missionary Baptist Church; and Francie Hunt, an education advocate who previously headed the Nashville Chapter of Stand for Children