Give the Memphis City Council credit for this: Members are putting in a lot of late hours trying to come up with a budget, working past 9 p.m. several times this week.
But they’ll never get to $50 million in cuts if they stay focused on $7,500 expenses for travel and meals for council members. That’s like dieting by cutting the pickle on the sandwich.
At the other extreme, watch for a “Hail Mary” as talks wind down — possibly a pitch for a payroll or privilege tax to take pressure off the property tax and shift some of the tax burden to those who work in Memphis but live outside the city.
