Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland said “strengthening public safety is a common thread throughout” the 2019 fiscal budget that he presented Tuesday to the Memphis City Council.
Crime has been down the first quarter of 2018, Strickland said, but “no one is celebrating this.” Still, he said it’s “undeniably encouraging news; now let’s keep our foot on the pedal.”
The budget technically lowers the current tax rate, but that may be an oversimplification. Here’s how Strickland explained it:
“I’m also proposing a tax rate of $3.19 per $100 in assessed value — one that’s technically lower than our current $3.27, and the $3.40 that we started with back in 2016.
There’s a reason for that. As you remember, we set the rate at $3.27 last year because it was calculated to be equivalent to or break even with our old rate once property values went up.
We expected a normal number of appeals of those valuations. But now that those numbers have come in, we’ve learned that the appeals were way
below normal.
So, to be equal to our current rate or to break even, our proposed new rate would be $3.19. Anything above that is a tax increase.”
However, even with the lower rate, Strickland said revenues would grow by $10.1 million in the coming year.
Of the $10.1 million, $2 million is proposed to go toward solidifying a pension plan for city employees, while $1.8 will fund police and fire promotional testing — an important part of the city’s public safety retention plan, Strickland said.
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“Adequate funding” or about $1.5 million will be used to rebuild the Memphis Police Department, which Strickland said means hiring more officers. The budget allows for two large or three mid-size police recruit classes.
However, Strickland said the budget is not solely focused on public safety. He said it also looks to provide youth with opportunities, reinvest in the city, and “bring new life to places that have been dormant for too long.”
Other highlights of the budget, he said, include the $19 million allocated to street pavings, which will be the third consecutive increase in funds for street pavings.
The budget also funds an initial step toward a new minority business incubator that would spur growth in minority business and create jobs.
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“We all know that poverty is a community-wide challenge,” Strickland said. “These initiatives show that we are continuing to do our part to combat our unacceptable rate of poverty.”
One item that is not in the budget, Strickland said, is an across-the-board raises for city employees because the city can’t afford it. Even a 1 percent across-the-board pay raise would costs $4.4 million, he said.
“We’re becoming more efficient every year,” Strickland said. “We’re investing more and more in things that really matter.”
Strickland’s presentation kicks off budget seasons at Memphis City Hall. The council will now begin its work to review and amend the budget, a months-long process of hearings, debate, and decision-making.
A final budget must be approved no later than the end of June.
