There are 75 article(s) tagged Mark Billingsley:
The nomination of Dr. Michelle Taylor as the new Shelby County Health Department director drew fire Wednesday, July 21, with distribution of a May memo to Mayor Lee Harris that said a search panel recommended not picking Taylor and continuing the search.
A vote Monday by the Shelby County Commission on a new voting system could mean new voting machines by the May county primary elections.
On “Behind the Headlines,” Porter-Leath’s Rob Hughes discusses the future of preschool in Shelby County after the abrupt end to its partnership with Shelby County Schools.
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:
Germantown property owners whose houses were damaged by a 2019 flood say the Shelby County Assessor promised to meet with them to discuss how their homes’ values increased despite the destruction. But Melvin Burgess’ representatives say no such gathering will occur.
The proposal by Assessor Melvin Burgess would have moved the cycle of countywide property reappraisals for taxation purposes from once every four years to every other year.
The commission delayed two earlier votes on moving to an every-other-year cycle for property reappraisals from the current four-year cycle.
Some commissioners have doubts about the move to every other year reappraisals. Assessor Melvin Burgess Jr. says the results will be less sticker shock from increases in values after four years.
The County Commission put off a vote on the change in the reappraisal cycle until its April 12 meeting as commissioners hear a lot from constituents about increased property values in the current reappraisal.
The vaccine distribution debacle on Mayor Lee Harris’ watch will figure prominently in the GOP campaign to retake his office, the party’s Shelby County executive director says.
A revised health directive released Monday, Dec. 21, by the Shelby County Health Department is better than a draft leaked to the media earlier, suburban and county leaders say, but still causes some concerns. Related story: New, restrictive health directive out, effective Dec. 26
The latest hiccup is a higher-than-expected contract for the University of Tennessee Health Science Center to run the county’s forensic center for the region, with the county dipping into its reserves for the difference.
The contract stirred the political embers of a recent budget season in county government as well as some spirited debate among commissioners about mask requirements.
Shelby County Commissioners want to try a swap out of federal CARES Act funding similar to one city council members did a week ago. But tensions left over from a rough county budget season that ended in June are hanging around.
Authorities are investigating after, police say, vandals targeted the homes of Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner and County Commissioners Mark Billingsley and Amber Mills Tuesday, July 28.
It's been a month since a county government budget was approved for the fiscal year that began July 1. But until that detailed budget is printed in black and white, there is still some wrangling underway, some distrust and the hiring freeze the county imposed may be melting.
Shelby County Health Department Director Alisa Haushalter's county health board proposal is drawing some resistance from suburban leaders who want to know more about its powers. The last county health board was abolished in 1909 and was no stranger to controversy.
On The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast, the County Commission chairman says the differences between the two don't appear to extend to the rest of the commission. Mark Billingsley also said he hopes to move to lift the county hiring budget freeze once there is a reconciliation of the budget approved by the commission last month after rejecting Mayor Lee Harris's original proposal.
The Sierra Club’s Scott Banbury raises questions about the governor's move to extend electronic meetings for local governments, while the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government says it creates a "convenient" loophole for councils and commissions to avoid public comment.
What was already a challenging budget year was complicated in county government by the pandemic's economic damage and a decision by the County Commission to reject the budget proposal by County Mayor Lee Harris. The commission rejected a proposed 8-cent property tax rate hike.
The plan to balance the county budget came apart when the commission put too much weight on the idea that federal reimbursements for county dollars spent on the pandemic freed up about $4.8 million. It didn't. Then a move to cut the sheriff's department budget brought two weeks of protest over the George Floyd incident into the discussion.
The county's $1.4 billion budget is a work in progress, but officials say they're close.
The commission calculated cuts and additions to the $1.4 billion budget, which must be approved by June 30.
Budget committee Chairman Eddie Jones and Vice Chairman Edmund Ford Jr. presented the proposal. Work on the budget resumes in a special committee meeting Monday before the full Shelby County Commission session.