Crosby leaves as county finance director after two tumultuous budget seasons
Mathilde Crosby is leaving county government to return to the private financial sector.
There are 53 article(s) tagged 2021 budget season:
Mathilde Crosby is leaving county government to return to the private financial sector.
Shelby County Commissioner Edmund Ford Jr. wants the county to get the bonuses to county workers in the next pay period. County Mayor Lee Harris says the county needs to be sure the use of federal American Rescue Plan Act funds is allowed before it cuts checks.
The County Commission Scorecard tracks the second in a series of votes on a county property tax rate. But the votes probably don’t close out the county’s budget season with four of the 13 commissioners absent.Related story:
On “Behind The Headlines,” county commissioners Van Turner and Mark Billingsley clashed over whether the commission should reopen its budget season later this month to consider a one-cent property tax hike.Related story:
Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland kicked off the city’s $200 million slate of capital projects over the next three years Tuesday, June 29, in a southwest Memphis park.
The state comptroller commented Tuesday during a visit to the county on the idea of reopening county government’s tax rate after the July 1 start of the fiscal year. But the county commissioner who vowed Monday to do just that next month says there is wiggle room in state law.
The scorecard tracks the key votes that closed out the city’s budget season, including cutting off a proposed property tax hike before it got to the floor.
The tax rate vote will mark the end of county government’s budget season. The commission also votes on moving items from the current fiscal year into the new fiscal year that begins July 1.
Collierville Mayor Stan Joyner and Bartlett Mayor Keith McDonald talked on “Behind The Headlines” about property tax hikes passed and up for a final vote, respectively, in the cities they lead and why the estimated share of federal ARPA funds in each of their cities took a tumble in the latest estimates.
The legal opinion will be about the chain of events at the June 7 session that led to the first approval of the $3.46 county tax rate.
A move for a 31-cent tax hike never got to a vote, with a council majority voting down a rule suspension to consider going up on the tax rate. That and other votes Tuesday, June 15, closed out the city’s budget season.
Before the council gets to final votes on operating and capital budgets, it will take up a call to raise property taxes by 29 cents to an even $3. The current city tax rate of $3.19 was lowered to $2.71 by the state to take into account the increase in property values with this year’s countywide property reappraisal.
Here are some of the highlights, including additional funding for MATA, from the county budgets for the fiscal year that begins July 1.
The County Commission Scorecard tracks the critical votes on county government’s various budgets during the June 7 session that, for the most part, ended the budget season.
The County Commission’s vote approving a one-cent property tax hike and the City Council’s consideration next week of a 29-cent city property tax hike were the dominant topics in a reporter’s roundtable on “Behind The Headlines.”
Our scorecard of critical Shelby County Commission votes tracks the set of votes this week that led to the approval of a one-cent increase in the recertified county property tax rate. The votes were more complex than usual with some parliamentary drama that almost brings down the curtain on another county budget season.
The tax hike requires one more vote by the commission after notice is given to the public and the Board of Equalization with a chance for public comment. The commission also approved $1.3 million in recurring funding for the Memphis Area Transit Authority.
The path of the two budget seasons and the use of federal funds to close financial gaps — plus other topics — are the focus of a reporters roundtable on “Behind The Headlines.”
Martavius Jones says he will push for the increase at next week’s council session.
The Monday, June 7, session of the County Commission could mark the end of the 2021 budget season with a series of final votes on a $1.4 billion consolidated budget and a county property tax rate considered stable if it drops from the current $4.05 to $3.45.
BLDG Memphis’ Deveney Perry and Stand for Children Tennessee’s Cardell Orrin join host Eric Barnes to discuss the budget priorities for 2021-22 budgets for the City of Memphis and Shelby County. In addition, guests talk about local economic issues the new budgets are and are not addressing.
Commissioners also got a look a three scenarios for a property tax hike from County Mayor Lee Harris’ administration although Harris has said he is not proposing such a tax hike.
The council approved Tuesday, June 1, accepting $80.5 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funding -- the first of two payments to come from Washington for pandemic relief. But there are still questions and uncertainties about how the money can be used.
The Tuesday council session includes discussion about proposed home improvement grants, an extension of the contract with the company that runs Liberty Bowl stadium for the city and a delay until June 15 on final votes that would set the city budget and property tax rate.
The commission scorecard looks at smooth sailing for the county budget season past the money left on the table from part of a penny, and why the commission’s resolution on the state’s critical race theory ban still matters.