Legislators bring back proposal for new Shelby County jail
State Rep. John Gillespie, R-Memphis, (right) and state Sen. Raumesh Akbari, D-Memphis, (left) have a bill that would raise Shelby County’s sales tax a full percent for a new jail. It sees a committee tomorrow, Feb. 12. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian file)
State Rep. John Gillespie, R-Memphis, and state Sen. Raumesh Akbari, D-Memphis, have proposed a bill allowing Shelby County to ask voters if they want to raise the local-option sales tax from 2.75% to 3.75%.
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Shelby County Jail John Gillespie Raumesh AkbariSamuel Hardiman
Samuel Hardiman is an enterprise and investigative reporter who focuses on local government and politics. He began his journalism career at the Tulsa World in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he covered business and, later, K-12 education. Hardiman came to Memphis in 2018 to join the Memphis Business Journal, covering government and economic development. He then served as the Memphis Commercial Appeal’s city hall reporter and later joined The Daily Memphian in 2023. His current work focuses on Elon Musk’s xAI, regional energy needs and how Memphis and Shelby County government spend taxpayer dollars.
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