Memphis City Council Votes To Raise Property Taxes To Fund 24-25 Budget

Image Credit: Memphis City Council / YouTube & Canva

The Tennessee Conservative Staff –

The Memphis City Council has passed its budget for the upcoming fiscal year, and residents will see increased property taxes and additional fees.

While the 75-cent property tax increase originally requested by Mayor Paul Young was not approved, owners will pay an increase of 49 cents.

The current tax rate of $2.70 per $100 of assessed property will jump to almost $3.20.

Automobile registration fees will increase by $30 for passenger vehicles, doubling from the current $30 rate to a new $60 fee.

The solid waste pickup fee will also increase by $12, bringing that charge to about $42.

Mayor Young says the group had to make a lot of “tough decisions.”

“We did not come at this lightly, knowing that we were asking the residents of our community to pay more,” Young said.

Some council members were shocked to see an additional $15 million added to the budget for the Memphis Police Department, an increase that was added just the day before their budget meeting.

“Quite literally at the last hour, we are being given two sentences to say you have to move 15 million dollars and no information about how and why we got to this point,” said Council Member Jerri Green.

Despite additional funding for the police department, Interim Police Chief CJ Davis will see a salary cut of $34,000. The increase in funding is intended to be used to cover overtime costs.

The budget passed with a vote of 8-5.