State’s bond ban won’t disrupt Shelby County schools, hospital projects this year
Bulldozers clear the future site of the new Frayer high school April 1. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian file)
The county’s plans for building schools and a hospital will not be immediately disrupted by a new one-year ban on issuing bonds, according to documents and an interview with Shelby County Board of Commissioners Chairwoman Shante Avant.
But the county does need to go out for bonds again in 2027.
Bonds issued last spring will help cover funding needed for infrastructure projects included in the 2026 fiscal budget, which was rejected by the Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury in an Oct. 1 letter. Without an approved budget, Shelby County cannot issue debt or borrow money under Tennessee law.
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Laura Testino
Laura Testino is an enterprise reporter on The Daily Memphian’s metro team who writes most often about how education policies shape the lives of children and families. She regularly contributes to coverage of breaking news events and actions of the Tennessee General Assembly. Testino’s journalism career in Memphis began six years ago at The Commercial Appeal, where she began chronicling learning disruptions associated with the pandemic, and continued with Chalkbeat, where she dug into education administration in Memphis. Her reporting has appeared in The New York Times, The Times-Picayune, The Tuscaloosa News and USA Today.
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