MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A new proposal by Memphis City Councilman Chase Carlisle would increase taxes to increase police officer salaries and provide money for affordable housing and MATA. But the proposal is facing some backlash in terms of increasing how much taxpayers will have to pay.
According to the Memphis Police Association, patrolmen with MPD make around $61,000 per year. MPD ranks last in that salary behind Germantown, Shelby County, Bartlett and Collierville. In Councilman Carlisle’s suggestion for a tax increase, he mentioned just how far behind the Memphis Police Department’s top out pay is, but opponents of the increase say this isn’t what Memphians want.
“Right now, I just don’t think a lot of people in Memphis want to spend money on this police department,” Just City Memphis’ Josh Spickler said. “It’s nothing against the men and women who work there. They’ve been given a very difficult job and not a great opportunity to do it.”
Spickler’s organization, Just City Memphis, is a criminal justice reform organization. He said the institution of policing is the problem and it isn’t enough to throw money at the department.
“The problem of crime has it’s roots in years and years and years of disinvestment, years and years and years of ignoring entire communities, entire neighborhoods, disinvesting in transportation, disinvesting in education,” Spickler said.
Councilman Carlisle said the increase would be part of a larger proposal about public safety and money raised through tax increases would fund more than just the police department.
“We know public safety is not just police officers,” Carlisle said “We’re adding $5 million annually to the affordable housing trust fund, an extra $5 million for MATA, we created the MATA transit funding but we need to accelerate getting to that goal.”
Despite these other avenues for spending, Spickler is concerned about the $15 million that would go directly to MPD saying more changes need to be made before more money is allocated.
“I don’t think it’s accomplishing the things that we’re told it is,” Spickler said. “I think the evidence is all around us. The evidence was certainly on the Tyre Nichols video. The evidence is in the data that I see everyday from the court system.”
The Mayor’s office said they’re awaiting more details before commenting on the proposal. Mayor Jim Strickland is expected to present his budget proposal to council in April where they then will decide what goes through but Mayor Strickland has not yet raised taxes during his time in office.