Budget missteps may lead to lack of money for city projects
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Brace yourself — it could be a rough upcoming budget season for the City of Memphis and it could affect you, the taxpayer.
Some Memphis City Council members say budget missteps could mean there won't be additional money for projects like the Memphis Zoo and Mud Island Amphitheater renovations. It could also have an impact on public safety and pay raises.
'I think that we, as a council, probably messed up when we did not raise taxes enough (last year),' said Councilman Jeff Warren. 'The last time we raised taxes we were looking at one rate, and we backed it down, and I think that in retrospect that was a mistake.'
Right now, there's a projected $883 million budget for fiscal year 2026 that the council will have to consider.
Young presents budget with no tax increase; hotel tax passes
'It's very confusing to me that the council, not myself, but others, voted last year to increase property taxes so high, and we don't have a Regional One or a Frayser High School, or something like that, to show for it,' Councilwoman Jerri Green said.
When it comes budget shortfall problems, Green says one of them is because of Clerk Wanda Halbert's delay in collecting Memphis' increased car-registration fees.
'I definitely think Clerk Halbert left us in a hole, looks like about a $10 million hole, and that is incredibly problematic,' she said. 'It was revenue that we were expecting. Doubling the wheel tax was not something that we wanted to do.'
City says county clerk failed to collect $7M in fees for months
Warren points at MATA funding issues and spending, which your News Leader recently investigated.
'We were hurt when we tried to continue to fund MATA and put $20 million here and $20 million there out of our reserve fund into trying to keep it going as a loan, that at this point looks like it's not going to be paid back,' he said.
So, what does this possibly mean for you, the taxpayer? There's speculation there won't be additional funding for the Memphis Zoo, the Mud Island Amphitheater, and possibly city pay raises.
Memphis Zoo says attendance dropped after 2022 crimes, leading to deficits
'There will be things that will be left out,' Green said. 'But our priorities need to be what the priorities of Memphians are. That means, you know, taking care of crime, so helping our police officers boost their numbers. It means cleaning up our streets.'
'We don't want to have our services drop,' Warren said. 'I know Mayor Young and the Council have been very vocal about wanting to make sure that we keep increasing the number of potholes we're filling and that we keep bringing down the crime rate.'
Another expense the city is looking at is buying police body cameras costing an estimated $11 million. Right now, the city says there are no plans to dip into the general-fund tax dollars to make that purchase.
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