There are 89 article(s) tagged Martavius Jones:
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.
The shortened park season opened with water in the Riverwalk. But other parts of the upgrade in the 39-year-old attraction have been delayed. Meanwhile, there was an attempt on the City Council to get the park’s long-dormant monorail up and running again that didn’t pan out.
Martavius Jones says he will push for the increase at next week’s council session.
Meanwhile, a City Council member who is term limited said he may be on the 2022 ballot for Shelby County Commission and an incumbent commissioner says he will probably seek another term.
City Council budget committee Chairman Worth Morgan said that the drop of the city property tax rate below $3 as appraised values have increased could set the stage for a tax rate hike.
Proposals by Memphis City Council members and Shelby County commissioners emerged during a second joint meeting Thursday of the two bodies. But other elected officials expressed concern that just talking about changes in economic development incentives could put the city and county at a disadvantage.
The four-hour online joint meeting of the two legislative bodies Thursday, March 25, was mostly questions and answers. The group agreed to start talking about proposals to change incentives at the second April 15 session with plans for a third joint meeting.
On “Behind the Headlines,” Shelby County Commissioner Tami Sawyer and Memphis City Council member Martavius Jones discussed their hopes for joint sessions on economic development reform. The two meetings come with a lot of advance planning.
The city plans to offer the property to developers once the sale from THM Properties of New York City closes. Demolition of the part of the city’s skyline is also an option.
One City Council member wanted to lock in $2.6 million for the community grants after the amount took a cut in the current city budget because of the pandemic’s impact. But another proposed doing away with the grants and sending the money to the city’s bus system.
Memphis, Light, Gas and Water’s water pressure situation has improved since Friday, but the utility organization’s president J.T. Young said it’s still “a critical patient.” He may have a better timetable Sunday on lifting the boil water advisory. Meanwhile, City Council members look at the water crisis.
‘We haven’t gone after those jobs ... that would make people drop everything and move to Memphis,' City Council member Martavius Jones said.
Shelby County Schools Superintendent Joris Ray has stood firm with all-remote learning, and accuses state leaders of being out of touch with the needs of Memphis students, who are mostly Black and disproportionately affected by the deadly virus.
Grants for distressed businesses also got a share of the funding after a council debate. And the council mediated a call by a restaurant owner to MLGW to work out payment plans with the industry.
The council action wasn’t unanimous and it follows a split vote the day before by the Shelby County Commission expressing support for the countywide directive that takes effect the day after Christmas.
The measure by council member Chase Carlisle was one vote short of the seven needed. It failed after a council debate that included one council member remembering his own brush with corruption charges. Others argued the proposal was arbitrary and cumbersome.
Council member JB Smiley is also seeking a change in council rules that would allow the chairman of the body to bar a council member who does what Ford did twice during Tuesday’s council meetings.
Frank Colvett won election as City Council chairman Tuesday over Martavius Jones. But Colvett’s selection did not come without some controversy.
Martavius Jones, the Memphis City Council budget committee chairman who oversaw pitches by more than 150 nonprofits seeking a share of $1.95 million, has problems with the way grants are awarded.
The two-pronged effort comes as two criminal justice consultants instrumental in the Blue Crush police strategy are again working with the city and recommending a police force larger than the goal of 2,300 officers by the end of this year.
The spending plan or budget was reconstructed several times in bargaining and changes in federal rules for how the grants could be used. Along the way, there was talk of animals moving out of the zoo and how to fund laptops and tablets for Shelby County Schools students.
The call to "defund" police during three weeks of daily protests in Memphis has grown as action moves from marches to specific issues. The terms doesn't always mean the same thing to everyone, however.
Passing the $707.8 million city budget saw $1.8 million from a dozen line items moved around to items council members wanted and the use of city reserves that leaves the rainy day fund at a low level of 7% of the budget that starts July 1.
City council member Martavius Jones, on The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast, said a proposal to cut MATA funding by $10 million is the first item in the city budget book that got his attention.