MEMPHIS, Tenn — The bombshell dropped at the Shelby County Commission Committee meeting yesterday came as a shock to many, even to county leaders.
“I haven’t heard anything from the state comptroller," said Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris. "I’m looking forward to working with him. Obviously, I’ve gotten many letters saying everything is going swimmingly in Memphis and Shelby County, so I can’t wait to see what this new thing is. I haven’t received any letters yet so we’ll have to wait and see,”
On Wednesday, many in the county learned it may lose out on millions of dollars if the 2026 fiscal year budget is not submitted correctly. Both Harris' office and the Shelby County Commissioners received a letter on Sept. 25.
“The comptroller stated that we had significant structural imbalances. It also stated that we spent too much money that we budgeted, but then went over,” Shelby County Commissioner Dr. Edmund Ford Jr. said.
The letter went into details about the issues within the county, including four straight years of incomplete submissions and two years of conditional approval. And in bold letters, the letter showed the Tennessee Comptroller's office threat to no longer conditionally approve Shelby County's budget if it would fail to submit every needed document.
“The county submitted incomplete materials in fiscal year 2022, for fiscal year 2023, for fiscal year 2024, for fiscal year 2025," said John Dunn, Comptroller Office Director of Communications. "Next year, we’re not going to mess around.”
To Harris, this seemed to go against what he believed about the county's Administration and Finance Department, which was said to receive several accolades.
“We’ve really, really been true and careful about our spending, keeping taxes low, finishing our budget process on time, and we have been commended by lots of state actors, so I am surprised by this latest revelation,” said Mayor Harris.
In an email to ABC24, a spokesperson with Tennessee Comptroller's office said only three people from Shelby County responded to the office following the Sept. 25 email.
Those three people include commissioner Ford, commissioner Amber Mills and Michael Thompson with the Shelby County Administration and Finance Department.
"Thompson did reach out to our financial analyst assigned to Shelby County earlier this week. They went over the letter together and made certain he was clear on the requirements for next year's submission," said a Comptroller Office spokesperson.
During the Wednesday committee meeting, Thompson continuously defended the county's ability to still get a budget approved year after year. However, Ford and Mills questioned this due to several of those years being conditional.
But now, commissioners, Harris and county leaders are pushing forward to make sure everything is submitted correctly.
“I feel there shouldn’t be any concern because I feel the administration and the commission understand the seriousness of this matter, and we’re moving steps ahead to make sure it’s done correctly,” said Charlie Caswell, Shelby County Commissioner.