MEMPHIS, Tenn. (localmemphis.com) – A new report says Memphis doesn’t have enough money to pay its bills. That contradicts the impression city hall has been giving citizens, but that report also says Nashville’s finances are in even bigger trouble.
The report was put together by Truth in Accounting. It is a think tank that analyzes government financial reporting. Of the 75 cities ranked, Memphis sits right in the middle of the pack, ranking at 33. Nashville was ranked almost dead last.
The report gives Memphis’ financial grade is a C. It says says Memphis has $1.7 billion dollars to pay $2.5 billion worth of bills.
That means there is a more than $743 million dollar shortfall. The bottom line: Memphis would need $3,700 from each taxpayer to pay all of its bills.
“If you are balancing your budget you should not be pushing any cost onto future taxpayers,” said Shiela Weinberg, Truth In Accounting.
Weinberg said the majority of the debt is connected to unfunded pension and retiree health care benefits.
The report found Nashville is in much worse financial shape than Memphis. Its grade is a D. To pay off Nashville’s debt, every taxpayer would have to pay $18,400. It ranks almost at the bottom of the list.
“Some people may be like, ‘oh we will pay those off in the future,’ but they are a current obligation just like you may be able to pay the minimum on your credit card but you do still have a credit card balance,” said Weinberg.
Mark Cunningham with Beacon Center of Tennessee, a government watchdog group, said of the report, “Memphis is still low on this list, but the one thing we, one good thing about Memphis is we see it going’ on the right direction you have to like Memphis has improved on this report from last year.”
Cunningham points out while Memphis has improved, Nashville’s ranking has dropped. The report says Nashville is short $3.8 billion dollars to pay its bills.
“Nashville has kind of had a reckoning, and this report further goes to show how bad of shape Nashville is really is,” said Cunningham. “I do think we need to look at Memphis who understands their financial shortfalls and is trying to address them mean, while you have Nashville with kind of their head in the sand pretending it’s not happening.”
A spokesperson for Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland said the city is not commenting on the report.