FAST FACTS:
(MEMPHIS 7/6/2010) This is one of the reasons lawyers were invented. To try and deal with complicated matters involving your money. Memphis City Schools get most of their funding from Shelby County property taxes. But they also get a pretty good chunk of change from city property owners as well. No other school system in the state does that. While all the lawyers are writing complicated legal stuff that is filled with fifty dollar words that sound funny, and don't make a bit of sense to most people, Memphis City Council Chairman Harold Collins says they need to get on the ball. "All of us want this education problem we're facing solved," he says.
The Collins plan is simple. He wants a question on the ballot for Memphis City residents. "It would ask citizens of Memphis if they want to continue funding Memphis City Schools at the rate of nearly eighty eight cents on our property tax," Collins says.
If you vote yes, the city will drop its legal fight against city schools. If you vote no then that's it. City Council Attorney Allan Wade, who's been involved with the legal battle for several years, says your vote will carry a lot of weight with the Tennessee Supreme Court. "If the citizens say they don't want it," Wade says, "the courts are going to be hard pressed to cram it down our throats."
The issue has to be approved by a majority of city council members in three separate votes before it can go on the ballot. Right now, council member Shea Flinn isn't a big fan of the Collins plan. As far as Flinn is concerned, the legal battle will settle the issue once and for all. "I think we need to see it through to the end," he says.
The issue must be approved no later than the 20th of August to make it on the November ballot.
- School funding question would appear on November ballot
- Asks Memphis city voters whether they want city to pay for city schools
- State law says county taxpayers must be responsible for paying for both city and county schools
(MEMPHIS 7/6/2010) This is one of the reasons lawyers were invented. To try and deal with complicated matters involving your money. Memphis City Schools get most of their funding from Shelby County property taxes. But they also get a pretty good chunk of change from city property owners as well. No other school system in the state does that. While all the lawyers are writing complicated legal stuff that is filled with fifty dollar words that sound funny, and don't make a bit of sense to most people, Memphis City Council Chairman Harold Collins says they need to get on the ball. "All of us want this education problem we're facing solved," he says.
The Collins plan is simple. He wants a question on the ballot for Memphis City residents. "It would ask citizens of Memphis if they want to continue funding Memphis City Schools at the rate of nearly eighty eight cents on our property tax," Collins says.
If you vote yes, the city will drop its legal fight against city schools. If you vote no then that's it. City Council Attorney Allan Wade, who's been involved with the legal battle for several years, says your vote will carry a lot of weight with the Tennessee Supreme Court. "If the citizens say they don't want it," Wade says, "the courts are going to be hard pressed to cram it down our throats."
The issue has to be approved by a majority of city council members in three separate votes before it can go on the ballot. Right now, council member Shea Flinn isn't a big fan of the Collins plan. As far as Flinn is concerned, the legal battle will settle the issue once and for all. "I think we need to see it through to the end," he says.
The issue must be approved no later than the 20th of August to make it on the November ballot.
