MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Memphis Mayor Paul Young proposed a 75-cent property tax increase on Tuesday, April 23, during his budget presentation to the Memphis City Council on Tuesday, April 23, 2024.
"In order to create the value that the community is expecting, we need revenues. We are in a situation where we haven't raised taxes since 2012, and the cost of everything has gone up since then," Mayor Paul Young said Tuesday.
Mayor Young said this tax increase was the last thing he wanted to do, but to make up for a shortfall and rising prices, it was necessary.
“The last thing I wanted to do in my first term, in my first four months in office, is raise taxes," Memphis Mayor Paul Young said Tuesday.
Here's how much more you would pay on taxes if Young gets the 75-cent increase: $188 more for homes that are $100,000, which will be $15.66 a month. $375 for a $200,000 house, resulting in $31.25 more a month. $563 for a home that costs $300,000, which is $46.92 more per month coming out of your pocket.
“Raising taxes can help, but it can also hurt," Morris Ruffin, a resident in Raleigh, told ABC24.
Mayor Paul Young announced his budget plan following his tax increase proposal. 72 percent of the budget is for city personnel.
MSCS is asking for at least $15 million over the next four years for school infrastructure and redevelopment of old buildings, including funds to help with 'chronic absenteeism.' That request is $10 million less than what Superintendent Doctor Marie Feagins asked for last week.
The mayor's proposal would also add $8 million to combat blight and litter. Young also wants $7 million for youth programming, such as basketball courts and accessible childcare. $3.2 million will go to the Office of Neighborhood Safety.
“This is a part of the public safety strategy,” Young told council members. “If we don’t engage these kids, they will find something else to do.”
Also, the Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA) would get $35 million in city funding; the public transit system currently gets $30 million from the city.
Today was only a proposal by Mayor Paul Young. The Memphis City Council will ultimately vote to decide on this increase when they approve the budget later this spring.
Young announced to the public that he was going to ask for a property tax increase to account for a $30 million shortfall in the city's budget a week prior on April 16.
Young told reporters after his speech celebrating his first 100 days in office at Mt. Vernon Baptist Church that because of a decrease in federal funds during the COVID-19 pandemic and an increase in pension payments, a tax hike is necessary.
“When I go to City Council next week to present our budget, I’m going to ask for a tax increase," Young had told the crowd. "I’m putting it out there so you can hear it directly from me. There are no secrets.”
Young added that to continue to make progress in fighting crime, better public safety and even tackle blight, more money by way of a tax increase is necessary.
Some Memphians welcomed a tax increase.
“It’s needed," Memphian Vester Taylor said. "If [you're] going to get involved, you got to pay something. We can’t keep on letting things go the same way, everything going up.”
Others said they are more skeptical as they are cautious about how the additional money will be used.
“If we get the tax increase, let us utilize it more than where it’s already beautiful," Memphian Peggy Robertson said. "Let us go into the communities.”
Mayor Young said his goal is to try and minimize the tax increase as much as possible. But Memphians already pay the highest taxes in Tennessee. This is why Ruffin said a lot of Memphians, specifically ones that have a low income, can't afford to pay the extra tax.
“There are monies in different areas that he could find to keep from raising our taxes. And as long as he is willing to raise the taxes, he should be willing also to look into avenues to save the poor," Ruffin said. "So, I feel like this: give it a little more time before you say, 'I’m going to raise taxes.' We [are] the ones paying the brunt of the taxes, because you don’t see the rich folks paying the brunt of the taxes. Most of them done moved out got the big boy houses out in Collierville, Bartlett [or] further out.”