County Commission keeps tax rate at $3.45, Brooks is new chairman
The commission also delayed the second of three votes on the Byhalia Connection Pipeline ordinance after it was amended.
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The commission also delayed the second of three votes on the Byhalia Connection Pipeline ordinance after it was amended.
Shelby County commissioners Monday voted down a new touch-screen voting system that includes a paper trail and moved to cut the Election Commission out of the process by taking new bids on a system that primarily uses hand-marked paper ballots.
Shelby County commissioners chose Dr. Michelle Taylor as the new head of the county’s Health Department Monday, and they picked Judicial Commissioner Danielle Mitchell-Sims to fill a General Sessions judge vacancy.
Monday’s commission agenda includes confirming a health director whose nomination is in trouble, possibly reopening the contentious question of a property tax hike, a long-delayed decision on a voting system for the county, and appointing a new judge.
A vote Monday by the Shelby County Commission on a new voting system could mean new voting machines by the May county primary elections.
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 proposed review of appointees to the ethics body comes as County Mayor Lee Harris is about to propose new ethics regulations.
The absence of four county commissioners, including three of the “yes” votes for the $3.45 property tax rate set two weeks ago, was crucial to undoing the tax hike. However, the issue is likely not over.
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.
Shelby County General Sessions Judge John Donald is set to retire next month after 35 years on the bench.
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.
Shelby County Schools officials say the Head Start contract with Porter-Leath is unprecedented in terms of its autonomy. A Porter-Leath representative says the relationship started to go bad two years ago.
Shelby County Schools approved a proposed budget of $2.2 billion to be presented to the County Commission on Wednesday, June 16.
Here are some of the highlights, including additional funding for MATA, from the county budgets for the fiscal year that begins July 1.
The Shelby County Commission granted Shelby County Schools $23 million, less than half of what the school board sought.
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.
Republican county commissioners who voted two weeks ago in favor of a resolution urging Gov. Bill Lee to veto a ban on teaching critical race theory took back their yes votes Monday. The resolution still passed.
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.
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 commission approved Monday a basic property tax rate of $3.45 that generates the same amount of revenue as the current tax rate, taking into account increases in property values. But the rate must be rounded down by 0.001 cent, which comes to almost a quarter of a million dollars in revenue left on the table.
Shelby County commissioners voted 11-0 with two commissioners not voting in approving a resolution similar to one approved by the Memphis City Council last week.
The Shelby County Commission meeting Monday, May 24, is a critical juncture in approving a property tax rate for the new fiscal year that begins July 1. But the county budget is expected to be voted on at the first meeting in June.
Shelby County commissioner Tami Sawyer says on The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast she backs a quick budget passage next month and a second look at the budget in the fall once federal American Rescue Plan funding is in play.
A path is emerging to a low-key budget passage by the County Commission next month. But commissioners are considering a big capital ask by SCS.
Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris said on “Behind The Headlines” that the estimated drop in the county property tax rate to $3.50, accounting for increases in values, should be the line to hold on the county tax rate. But county commissioners this week reviewed numbers suggesting some want to raise taxes beyond that point.