MEMPHIS, Tennessee —
It came down to the wire, but the Memphis City Council approved a 2021 fiscal year budget Tuesday evening.
Coronavirus cast a cloud of doom over Mayor Jim Strickland's budget proposal just as he was to present it to council members April 21.
It would be two more weeks before a budget plan for the upcoming year would be vetted, as city leaders awaited expected federal funding through the CARES Act to plug budget gaps for city salaries and services.
Strickland projected a budget shortfall of $81 million through July of 2021. Many feared layoffs and tax increases would be the answer to stabilizing the city's finances, but Strickland delivered a plan void of both.
The budget was passed with nearly $2 million dollars in additional cuts of materials and supplies.
