20-year-old case could impact gun control legal battle
Memphis City Council attorney Allan Wade in Chancery Court judge JoeDae Jenkins' courtroom May 10, 2023. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian file)
Twenty years ago this month, City of Memphis leaders were trying to find a way to get a payroll tax approved.
The first idea was to just apply the tax to those working in, but not living in, Memphis. It didn’t pass even the most basic legal muster and was quickly discarded.
A 1993 legal opinion from the Tennessee Attorney General’s office concluded the city could not carry out a payroll tax without the Tennessee Legislature’s OK. And the legal opinion quickly came into play 10 years later during the Memphis City Council’s most detailed — but not last — exploration of a payroll tax.
The current path of the legal dispute over a multi-part city ballot referendum on gun control is expected to hinge on the outcome of the payroll tax ballot question’s 2004 controversy.
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Allan Wade Shelby County Election Commission State Coordinator of Elections Subscriber Only Memphis City CouncilThank you for supporting local journalism.
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Bill Dries
Bill Dries covers city and county government and politics. He is a native Memphian and has been a reporter for more than 40 years.
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