Author: Janel Davis

The three divisions of the Memphis City Courts may be getting a new address. Since the courts have outgrown their current home in the Shelby County Justice Center at 201 Poplar, city engineers, council members and even judges have proposed several possible sites for a relocation. But with the city in financial straits, costs associated may make some of the locations unfeasible.

In the proposed police budget, $19 million is requested to reopen the department’s former headquarters at 128 Adams. Because 128 Adams is a convenient location, City Council members also decided to make it the fourth possible site for the courts relocation. But if it’s chosen, the building won’t have room for all the police divisions and the city courts.

School can be cool with the right motivation.

Last Friday, motivation came in the form of music, videos, and CO₂-powered cars at American Way Middle School. During two programs by FMA Live!, students learned about Isaac Newton’s Laws of Motion and his Universal Law of Gravity. In light of studies that show American students falling behind other countries in math and science, NASA and Honeywell have joined forces to fund the hip-hop education concerts. The traveling show, named for Newton’s second law (force = mass x acceleration), uses hands-on learning to push the fundamentals.

A three-member emcee team leads the entertainment, er, lesson, with physical stunts, experiments, and song and dance. Students participate in a car race, kick giant soccer balls, and slam into Velcro walls to demonstrate Newton’s laws. Teachers get in on the action too by competing in a sumo wrestling match and, in the case of Principal Russell Heaston, ride a hovercraft chair right into a giant pie. The visit to Memphis was part of a 24-city tour.

Whether the FMA Live! show equates to high grades remains to be seen, but no one can say they didn’t try.

Mayor Willie Herenton began his fiscal year 2006 budget presentation to the City Council last week with a speech outlining the city’s budget deficit, a proposed 54 cent property tax increase to combat it, and plans for restoring city services to an acceptable level. The mayor mentioned a number of factors contributing to the revenue shortfall, including a reduction in state-shared revenues, increased security measures following the September 11th terrorist attacks, and the 2003 windstorm commonly referred to as Hurricane Elvis.

In fact, the July 22nd windstorm was the second factor mentioned by the mayor on his list of contributing factors to the city’s monetary woes.

Hurricane Elvis did leave widespread destruction in its wake; even the Flyer offices were closed for a week following the storm, due to a power outage. But since then, the storm has taken the rap for everything from lower economic production to a decline in the number of city tourists. During last year’s round of budget meetings, for example, administrators and division directors bemoaned the storm and the resulting decreased revenues. Lower property-tax revenues, increased repair costs, and equipment and supply purchases were all partially attributed to the storm.

Admittedly, the city did suffer damage requiring millions of dollars in repairs, but most of those funds were reimbursed, and are still being reimbursed, by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). When asked about the windstorm’s actual lingering effect on the budget shortfall, Herenton told the Flyer that it was “infinitesimal.”

“It’s all listed [in the proposed budget],” he said. “Look in there, you’ll see.”

But the windstorm monies — both reimbursed and outstanding — are hard to find. No line items exist for these categories, and the reimbursed funds are distributed throughout city divisions for various uses.

FEMA records show that Shelby County received about $52 million in reimbursement funds for the storm. That money was then distributed by the Memphis/Shelby County emergency branch to the city, MLGW, Memphis City Schools, outlying communities, and for uninsured personal property losses.

FEMA’s reimbursement rate is 75 percent of incurred expenses. City finance director Charles Williamson said the city received $5.1 million in April, bringing the city’s total to $8.6 million. An additional $1.5 million is still expected. Once that payment is sent, Williamson will present a final report to the City Council. Under former finance director Joseph Lee, the city submitted $14.9 million in costs to FEMA. The city’s insurance company has also reimbursed the municipality $2 million. To date, the city’s windstorm-related expenditures are $13.6 millon. At these reimbursement rates, the city will be left with only about $2 million in outstanding costs.

The real budget eye-opener is unpaid property taxes (see chart below). City treasury records show more than $23 million in uncollected taxes for 2004.

“The effects from the windstorm are residual because some people still haven’t paid their property taxes from that year [2003],” said Williamson. “If you’ve got to choose between house repairs and paying property taxes, then you’re probably going to repair your home first.”

Bottom line: While the storm did have some effect on the city budget, the lower-revenues trend was established long before. The mayor mentioned this catastrophe in his budget speech, but nowhere did he mention the “conservatively optimistic” revenue predictions compiled by the city’s budget and finance office which skewed the financial outlook. •

NEWS FEATURE by JANEL DAVIS

Property Tax Collections

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

Taxes Outstanding $3,564,483 $5,386,282 $7,891,289 $11,171,917 $23,245,779

Bankruptcy $133,683 $250,563 $617,031 $786,163 $1,177,978

For more than a decade, Ron Pope has headed the Memphis City Schools department responsible for enforcing truancy laws. With the school district trimming its budget and reorganizing several administrative positions, Pope’s truancy team may be dissolved.

Who: Eight certified teachers, or
“attendance teachers,” are responsible for delivering
truancy warnings to parents of children with more
than five unexcused absences from school. The attendance teachers handle all 190 schools
in the district.

What: District administrators recommended last week that truancy and
attendance be handled by individual school personnel. Pope estimated the budget
for the attendance-teacher program at about $400,000, which includes mileage and
gas. Last year, the teachers delivered more than 30,000 truancy notices, and once
parents were notified, the department saw a
roughly 50 percent correction rate.

Deputy Superintendent Bernadeia Johnson, who made the
recommendation, anticipates cost savings as well as better
attendance rates. “To me, everything is tied
to attendance, especially student
achievement,” she said. “When attendance teachers go
up to that door to take a notice to a parent, they really don’t know why the child has been
out of school. But the student’s teachers, counselors, and principals know why he/she is
out and are better able to assist them with the underlying reasons for truancy.”

When: If the recommendation is approved by the school board, the attendance
teachers will be reassigned to new positions in
the 2005-2006 school year.

Where: The attendance teachers have been headquartered in the Truancy
Assessment Center on Poplar Avenue at Claybrook.
Most of their work is done in the field, which can sometimes be dangerous. During Pope’s
tenure, two teachers have been the victims of carjacking, including 70-year-old Joe
Sharp, who was shot last week while delivering a parent warning in North Memphis.

Why: “I think it’s more a matter of what’s
humanly possible for an attendance officer to
do,” said Pope. “If each one of them worked
truancies on 10 schools each day, they still
wouldn’t reach each one in a timely manner.”

Preceding President Bush to Memphis last week was pint-sized Social Security advocate
Noah McCullough. Little Noah spent his spring break
traveling with W on a multicity tour. Before pushing Social
Security reform, Noah made a name for himself as a presidential
history buff. While other kids his age were getting cootie
shots and making mud pies, Noah was researching the lineage
of Thomas Jefferson.

While all that’s impressive — and darn cute —
what does a 9-year-old know about Social Security? To
find out, we decided to ask a local youngster for her take
on Social Security, politics, and President Bush.

Flyer: What does Social Security mean to you?

Darian, 4th-grader at Highland Oaks Elementary
School: To me, it means big people who fight for you.
I think there should be a new part of Social Security where a fireman, policeman, and
security man are at every school.

Um, Darian, we think you’re confusing Social
Security with security. Should people be allowed
to privately invest a portion of their Social Security?

I don’t think people should get too much of
their money back, because they’ll spend it all and go broke.
I think people should have a savings account to add
to their Social Security.

Have you learned a lot about President Bush and
politics in your school?

We talked about the election and how many votes
Bush and John Kerry got. We had our own election in our
school, and I voted for Bush. I don’t think Kerry was ready. I
think Bush is doing a good job with the country, because I
feel safe at home.

What else did you learn about President Bush?

I learned that he goes to Iraq, and he frees
our nation and country. If he’s protecting us, we should help him with words, not fighting.

Do you know anyone fighting in Iraq?

My cousin and my uncle.

What other politicians do you talk about at school?

Condi Rice. I like the way her hair flips. She makes a lot of plans
and stuff and she helps Bush, so it’s like two people running the country.

Your favorite television show is That’s So
Raven. If you had a choice of watching the news or
Raven, which would it be?

(Immediately) That’s So Raven.

Thirty-two years is a long time, especially leading God’s people. Just ask Moses. A few weeks into his 40-year stint wandering around in the wilderness, he gave those complaining Hebrews a piece of his mind and flung stone tablets at them. Luckily for the members of Bellevue Baptist Church, their leader is of a much calmer temperament. But even he got tired.

Acknowledging that his time at Bellevue had run its course, Adrian Rogers gave up the senior-pastor post last weekend in grand fashion, with a four-service blowout that rivaled New Orleans’ Mardi Gras (minus the boobs and beads, of course). A Friday-night celebration was followed by two Sunday-morning services full of accolades for the patriarch. He even got a new Mercury Grand Marquis and trip to Florida.

During the 8:30 a.m. service, speakers, church members, and family members offered words of thanks to Rogers on the theme “Well Done, Good and Faithful Servant.” I thought the same could be said for the guy responsible for cleaning the place. With a 369-acre campus and arena-sized sanctuary with numbered theater seats, the building engineer should at least get something for his services. Come on down, Janitor Bob, and get your new Geo Metro!

The tributes were touching, as thousands of us watched photo montages about the life and times of Rogers accompanied by live choral music. My favorite tribute was from Rogers’ daughter, who bucked the trend and devoted her entire speech to her mother. “You were always the rock,” she said. Pastor Rogers might have been an inspiring leader, but from the glimpses into the couple’s early life, Ma Rogers was pretty strong too.

The pulpit was difficult to see from my back-row seat in the cavernous hall, but the three Jumbotron screens behind the choir really helped. The deacons said church revenues had grown from tens of thousands before Rogers’ tenure to more than $21 million under his leadership. On this Sunday, I was glad they didn’t skimp on the gadgets.

During brief respites from watching the action on the big screen, I scanned the crowd. Grown men were crying like babies. Women were too, and so were teenagers. These churchgoers had really been touched by Rogers’ leadership.

I asked the crying lady next to me who she thought would replace Rogers.

“We don’t know yet,” she said.

Good thing too. The poor son of a gun would have had to walk on water to upstage Rogers.

By the end of the service, I felt like I was a part of the Bellevue family. As we joined hands across the aisles to sing a parting tune, my heart swelled. The only thing left to do was file out listlessly into the foyer. All the way to my car I was glowing, feeling lucky to have been a part of history. And the 20-minute wait to exit the parking lot didn’t dim it one bit. Well, maybe just a little.

I wish you would have come to see me early last week,” says Johnny Rudd. “I’ve taken most of my plaques and trophies home now. On March 22nd, I want this place to be clean.” Rudd’s office in the city’s Division of Park Services building on Avery is still slightly cluttered with sports memorabilia. “After 19 years, you collect a lot,” he says.

Rudd has supervised the Adult Athletics department for the last nine years. Before that he worked in Youth Athletics. When city budget cuts and layoffs were announced last month, Rudd’s position and his department were casualties. The city ended its spring athletic leagues and youth leagues. Field maintenance crews were cut, and the one other employee in Rudd’s department was also laid off. A total of 41 parks employees will soon be unemployed.

Since the cuts were announced, Rudd has received many calls from frustrated players questioning the city’s actions. For the last few years, the Adult Athletics department has run at a deficit. “In the late 1980s and early ’90s, we had as many as 1,400 teams in our leagues,” says Rudd. “Last year, we had only 203.” Those teams accounted for about $82,000 in revenue, but costs exceeded $125,000. “Many of the teams that used to play [in the city] are playing in suburbs which have their own complexes. That has really hurt us,” Rudd adds.

“But the people who are really hurt are the kids,” says Rudd, who also coaches summer youth baseball teams. “About 80 percent of school teams play on city fields. The adult teams can pick up and play elsewhere in the county and Mississippi, but the kids have nowhere to go.

“I was ready for this day. I have always made sure I had a second [employment] option. But I really hurt for all of the other people affected. Most people are devastated.”

Due to the budget cuts, 198 full-time city employees were laid off. Another 1,900 part-timers also lost their jobs. The layoffs, combined with additional budget reductions, are expected to close a $6.4 million shortfall for the fiscal year ending June 30th. City Council members have proposed 26 recommendations to balance the budget, including reviewing MATA operations and even looking into selling The Pyramid. But Mayor Herenton told council members Tuesday that their recommendations came too late to be implemented this fiscal year.

The eight-page layoff report issued by the Human Resources department includes mostly Parks and Public Works employees — crew members, mechanics, and clerks. But some of those laid-off are division directors, like Rudd, and employees directly involved with public services. Human Resources director Lorene Essex says layoffs were determined by classification, seniority, and department budget. “We looked at how an organization could function without those employees,” she says. “Also, would the remaining employees be able to continue operations and provide services? We didn’t make cuts just for the sake of cutting.”

Laid-off employees remain on the city’s health insurance plan for 30 days after March 22nd. After that, they become part of a much more expensive COBRA plan. For Rudd, COBRA means a nearly $600 monthly increase in personal expenses. By law, COBRA plans do not include life insurance.

For some employees, a union contract has granted them a reprieve. Through clauses in their contracts, laid-off employees are allowed to “bump” or replace some employees with lesser seniority. In departments such as Adult Athletics, where all employees have been eliminated, that clause is not in effect.

Shirlean Robertson is number 149, four above Rudd, on the list of 198 full-time employees being eliminated. For the past decade, Robertson has been employed in the Mayor’s Citizen Services Center. She is the current administrator and senior member of that department. “I am just one month short of 11 years with the city,” she says. “I’ll have to find another job. I’ve got to keep working.” Four employees will be left in Robertson’s department. Those positions are appointed, and the “bump” clause does not apply to appointed positions.

Center for Neighborhoods coordinator Vernua Hanrahan, number 89 on the list, is one of two coordinators being cut from her department. Although community advocates have expressed their concern about the layoffs, Hanrahan is slow to discuss her future. “Until March 22nd, I am still employed by the city and wouldn’t want to talk about any of the decisions right now.”

Others have been more vocal, including former part-time Sharpe Planetarium employees Brett Hanover and Diane Heaton, who began an on-line petition to save the planetarium, which has already been closed to the public. Dan Hope, spokesman for the Pink Place Family of Museums, said the organization has lost eight full-time employees and at least 20 part-timers. Planetarium manager Jim Greenhouse, number 83 on the list, has already found another job in Macon, Georgia.

What were the causes for the budget deficit? The city’s finance office and Mayor Herenton have been criticized for their original rosy forecasts on city finances when they presented the budget last summer. “We created the budget on the information we had at that point,” says finance director Charles Williamson. “We had an economy that was on the uptick. FedExForum was opening and would bring in more tourism dollars. And we felt the windstorm was behind us and that people would now be able to pay their property taxes.”

In September, Williamson noticed that things weren’t turning out as planned and notified the mayor. “Because we were already in the fiscal year, all we could do was reduce our spending to not exceed our revenues. It’s like balancing your personal checkbook.”

But balancing the city’s checkbook requires millions, not only to close the budget gap but to replenish reserve funds, which have dwindled to $26 million. To remain in good standing with bond-rating agencies, the fund will have to return to 10 percent of city expenditures, about $48 million.

“We can no longer allow [city administrators] to continue passing these budgets and making these cuts like this,” says council member Carol Chumney. “[Council members] have got to take a stand and make them accountable. I’ve been saying this since I’ve been on the council, but nobody seems to want to ask hard questions.”

Chumney and other council members have criticized the administrators for unrealistic budget projections as well as employee raises. A 3 percent raise for about 6,000 employees accounted for almost $4.5 million in additional expenses.

Williamson says those criticisms are unfair. “Our expenditures have been lower than average the last five years. It’s just that our revenues have been down,” he says. “You can go back to unpaid property taxes that we don’t have and even further, to the $86 million that the city gives to the school system. That’s money the city could have in its coffers.”

Over the past 10 years, the city has contributed $828 million to Memphis City Schools. On several occasions, Herenton has proposed withdrawing those annual funds to MCS. The City Council would have to approve such a decision.

To ensure a better budget analysis for the next fiscal year, Williamson says he and his staff are utilizing better money management. Union-negotiated raises and other salary increases are being factored in advance to better offset expenditures. Williamson is also looking into additional revenue, including the possibility of a commuter tax. Using Pittsburgh as a model, a commuter tax would be paid by employees who work in the city but live elsewhere. Employers would collect the tax and remit funds to the city. “We’re a ways from that,” Williamson says. “We have to check with the legal department to see if we have to check with the state legislature to go forward. If we can, it will come up in fiscal year 2007,” says Williamson.

Until then, laid-off employees can only hope for a budget turnaround that will give them their jobs back. But even if revenues exceed expectations, there is no assurance that the positions will be reopened.

“I have all sorts of fishing equipment at home that has never been used,” says Rudd, as his baseball clock loudly ticks away his remaining hours on the job. “I passed by a lake the other day and saw a group of men sitting out there enjoying themselves, and I said to myself, ‘I’m on my way.'”

About 100 Memphis police captains contest the

city budget reduction that abolishes their rank.

Ultimate Ultimatum: At a press conference last August, Memphis mayor Willie Herenton said local police officers were not the director’s men, but “the mayor’s men.”

Those familial feelings were torn asunder last week when 92 of the mayor’s men were given an ultimatum: take a demotion or resign.

Those affected are the 30-year captains, officers who received the rank under a 1927 city charter guideline which automatically promotes personnel after 30 years of service. Giving the captains an ultimatum was police director Larry Godwin’s way of reducing the police budget by $1.3 million, a move necessitated by the city’s $6.4 million budget shortfall. After last Friday’s announcement, officers were given a week to notify Godwin of their intentions.

Protect and Served: “I think it’s a cheap way of using the city’s budget woes to get rid of 30-year captains, which have never been popular with MPD management,” said Memphis Police Association (MPA) president Tommy Turner.

Most of the captains have signed affidavits to be included in litigation against the city. The MPA was granted a temporary restraining order Tuesday, which freezes the positions until a March 7th hearing. The injunction also intervenes in the February 25th notification deadline required by Godwin.

“It’s not a rank that we need,” said Godwin. “The rank is given at the tick of a clock upon [reaching] 30 years, not a process in which we test skills. I think you should achieve it by merit.”

Badge of Honor? At the core of this protest by 30-year captains is what Turner and the MPA see as a violation of city charter. Under that original code, police and fire personnel received the captain distinction in recognition of their service during the yellow fever epidemics in the late 1800s, according to department administrators. Upon receiving the promotion, officers then retired with the pension of a captain.

Many of the 30-year captains received their promotions at ages well below retirement age and remained on the job, drawing salaries that in some cases doubled their previous wages.

“I feel like I’ve been rode hard and put up wet,” said officer Jim Johnston, 57. After his captain’s promotion in September, the former sergeant reorganized his family budget based on his new salary. With college tuition to pay, Johnston’s options are limited. “Mr. Herenton is not running me off this job. If that means having to stay here and work at a lower pay, I’ll have to work a lot of overtime and make it up. I’m here until I fulfill my obligation.”

Jim Shannon handles student financial aid for Christian Brothers University. Lately, his responsibilities have included educating the school’s 1,800 undergraduates on the latest changes in the Pell Grant program. And the news isn’t particularly good.

About 550 CBU undergrads receive the federal grants each year. Under the Bush administration’s proposals to change the allocation amounts and funding formulas, Shannon says some students will lose their money.

“I think what will happen is that those students on the lower end of amount of need will see their grants reduced, but the highest-need students won’t be affected,” Shannon says. “What will be interesting is to see the effect this could have on Tennessee students who also receive state grants, because the [contribution formulas] are taken from the Pell Grant formulas.”

Late last year, President Bush outlined his plans to overhaul the allocation of federal funds to the nation’s college students. In addition to proposing an increase in individual grant amounts, Bush also announced a review of the formulas used in calculating Pell Grant payments.

The federally funded program awards need-based grants from $400 to more than $4,000. To qualify for assistance, students must complete a form noting family income, savings, and other information. These numbers are used to compute a student’s Expected Family Contribution (EFC), the amount a student’s family can contribute to educational expenses. The formulas used in calculating the EFC have remained unchanged since 1988.

The new guidelines would save the government $300 million in 2005-2006, good news for a program that is $4 billion in the red. According to Department of Education administrators, the updated formulas will be based on new tax tables.

More than 86,000 Tennessee students received Pell Grant funds in the 2002-2003 school year, accounting for more than $208 million in Pell payouts. Approximately 90,000 students would be disqualified from Pell funds under the new formula, according to the Tennessee Student Assistance Corporation (TSAC), and 1.3 million students will see a decrease in fund amounts nationwide. According a TSAC statement, “The added pressure of [reducing Pell eligibility] may increase the number of students dropping out of college. [It] may also lead to increased numbers of students borrowing the additional funds needed.”

“The Pell Grant uses a graduated chart, while the Tennessee grant has a more exact cutoff in relating to income contribution,” says Shannon. “If students’ EFCs rise because of this, then more students are likely to be precluded [from the state grant].” At CBU, 275 students received state grants.

Shannon’s concerns are confirmed by TSAC, which estimates that an increased EFC could cause a decrease in private-sector need-based scholarships as well.

Rhodes College financial aid administrator Forrest Stuart says the updated formula is long in coming: “We need to use updated data. The government is not doing this to kick people off the grant rolls. It’s doing it because the law requires it.

“I’m sorry about the effects, but they need to keep the tax tables updated,” Stuart adds. “It’s not fair to everyone involved — taxpayers and students — when we use old data. The DOE should have done something about this a long time ago. It’s not the Republicans jumping on these students.”

At LeMoyne-Owen College, more than 80 percent of undergraduates receive Pell Grants. In other words, of the 800 undergraduate students attending the college, 650 received federal grant allocations. But college administrators say the new funding formulas won’t greatly affect LeMoyne-Owen students.

“February is Financial Aid Awareness Month here at LeMoyne, and we are informing students about Pell changes,” says chief financial officer Tijuana Hudson. “We may see some students affected, but not many.”

Richard Ritzman, who handles financial aid at the University of Memphis, says the new funding formula would probably produce low-impact results. “If the maximum Pell Grant is raised by $100 for the next year (an increase proposed by President Bush for the next five years), it will probably, at best, offset the loss the student would have seen based on the new formula calculations. I have seen proposals come and go every year regarding the federal financial aid programs. In most cases, what is finally enacted, if anything, is quite different from what was originally proposed.”