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City Council Considers Minimum Wage Increase for PILOT Projects

A Memphis City Council committee discussed Tuesday raising the minimum pay for those working at companies incentivized to do business here.  

Councilmember Martavius Jones wants to raise the minimum hourly wage to $21 at businesses that receive pay in lieu of taxes (PILOT) incentives through the Economic Development Growth Engine (EDGE) for Memphis and Shelby County.

“This is not that I’m against incentives,” Jones said. “I know we have to play the game. This is about what we incentivize and what dollar amount we incentivize.”

Currently, the minimum wage requirement for PILOT projects is $13 an hour, which Jones said is less than a livable wage. 

PILOT projects give temporary tax abatements in return for a commitment to contracting local minority- or women-owned businesses, creating jobs, and making other community investments. 

To date, EDGE has incentivized 128 PILOT projects. Recipients include large companies such as ServiceMaster and Amazon to local companies, such as Hollywood Feed and Superlo. 

Reid Dulberger, president and CEO of EDGE said while he would like to see wages increased, the resolution “has the realistic probability of hurting the people we say we want to help.”

Dulberger said EDGE must compete with neighboring communities that offer tax abatements. 

“It’s a competitive world,” Dulberger said. “We have wage requirements now that our competitors don’t have. We have a health insurance requirement now that our competitors don’t have.”

These additional thresholds are good public policy, Dulberger said.  But if the standards are set too high, good public policy becomes “ineffective,” he said. 

Councilmember Worth Morgan opposed the resolution, saying that Memphis does not have the leverage to require more without incentivizing more. 

“It’s pretty clear that if this resolution were to pass, we would potentially lose out rather than gain more,” Morgan said. 

Councilmember Patrice Robsinson said if businesses don’t want to come here, “then so be it.”

“We want them to make an investment in us and we have an opportunity to make an investment in them,” Robinson said. 

Robinson suggests having a sliding scale, offering greater incentives for companies that pay higher wages. 

“We have got to be intentional about working on poverty in our community,” Robinson said. “If we reduce poverty, we reduce crime, we increase educational rates.”

Though the base pay requirement is $13, Dulberger said for projects approved in the last five years the average wage is $58,000.

If EDGE was to increase the base pay today based on the 2020 Shelby County annual average wage, Dulberger said it would only raise it to $15. 

Councilmember Cheyene Johnson proposed amending the resolution to allow companies to pay $21 an hour if they first receive city council approval. 

“At least people can come in and explain why they can’t pay $21 an hour,” Johnson said. “They may have a reasonable explanation for it.”

Dulberger said requiring companies to come before the council would be a “significant hurdle,” possibly costing Memphis a number of projects. 

“They don’t want to come before any public body,” Dulberger said. “They want to know if they’re getting an incentive or if they’re not getting an incentive. They prefer it all be done confidentially.” 

The council will return to the discussion at their next meeting on Tuesday, September, 7.

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‘Bluff City Law’ Will Shoot in Memphis with $4.25M Incentive Package

NBC

NBC will shoot “Bluff City Law” in Memphis and Shelby County, according to Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland, after winning a multi-million-incentive package from local agencies.

After shooting a pilot here earlier this year, it wasn’t immediately clear whether or not the show would be filmed in Memphis. But NBC was given a $4.25-million incentive package to secure Memphis as its location. The network got $2.5 million from the state, $1.4 million from both the city of Memphis and Shelby County and $350,000 from Memphis Tourism.

Here’s what Strickland had to say about the news:

“Welcome home, ‘Bluff City Law!’ This is a tremendous opportunity to showcase our city every week on the national stage starting this fall. I’m very excited about having the show filmed here and am even more thrilled about the economic implications it will have. Many thanks to all those involved to make this happen.”

Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris:

“More great news for Memphis and Shelby County with ‘Bluff City Law’ shooting right here in the Bluff City. This is a great opportunity to show off the talented men and women in the local film scene and our famous hospitality. I look forward to the partnership and shots of our one-of-a-kind skyline.”

Kevin Kane, president and CEO of Memphis Tourism:

“Memphis can’t be duplicated and authenticity is the heart of this city that moves to its own beat. Viewers will get to see that with ‘Bluff City Law’ shooting on location in our vibrant city, which was visited by nearly 12 million travelers last year. Memphis Tourism views this as an opportunity to leverage this visibility to grow new visitor demand and the visitor economy while creating unique awareness for our travel destination to millions of viewers on a weekly basis.”

Reid Dulberger, president and CEO, Economic Development Growth Engine (EDGE):

“’Bluff City’ Law has found its rightful home in Memphis. The show will mean hundreds of jobs for Memphis film production crews and increased revenues for local business. It will also be a greater advertising tool for the community.”

Here’s a description of “Bluff City Law” from NBC:

Coming from a famous Memphis family known for taking on injustice, brilliant lawyer Sydney Strait used to work at her father Elijah’s celebrated law firm until their tumultuous relationship got in the way.

After barely speaking to him for years, Sydney is suddenly thrust back into the family fold when her philanthropist mother passes away unexpectedly. In the wake of her loss, hoping to reconnect with the daughter he loves, Elijah asks Sydney to rejoin his firm.

She agrees because despite her lingering resentment and distrust, she knows that working alongside her father is her best hope at changing the world … if they can ever get along.

The cast includes Jimmy Smits, Caitlin McGee, Scott Shepherd, Barry Sloane, Michael Luwoye, MaameYaa Boafo, Stony Blyden and Jayne Atkinson.