FAST FACTS:
( Memphis 11/18/2009) Property taxes do something.
The poor get poorer and the rich pay until they can't pay anymore and then they move. Then city streets start to resemble the streets of Dresden, Germany in World War II, nothing but vacant rotting shells of what was, at one time, a vibrant neighborhood.
Nobody wants to raise taxes. There's not a politician in America who says he or she wants to raise your taxes. Former Vice-President Walter Mondale said he was going to raise taxes back in 1984, when he was running for President. Ronald Reagan made mince meat out of Mondale that year, winning in a landslide.
But the city might not have much of a choice. The issue is whether the city must pay for city schools, as well as Shelby County paying for city schools. If a court rules the city must pay, it will mean that they'll need to cough up more than 50 million bucks. That could mean a tax increase. "I've heard the increase might be between 15 cents and 50 cents," says Memphis City Council Chairman Harold Collins. Collins doesn't like the idea, and says that if the tax goes through "It's specifically for the educational system. We'd let the taxpayers know that this money is going to the city schools."
Newly elected Mayor A C Wharton had never mentioned possibly raising taxes while running for office. Politicians don't forget that Mondale thing. But now, for the first time, he's mentioned it. "The first avenue is that we look at making government as fiscally responsible as possible. We'd look at every department and every aspect of government to see where we could cut." One place he doesn't expect to get any help is from Nashville. "Anybody who thinks anything is going to happen in Nashville where we get money," Wharton says, "must be smoking something. This is a state that can barely make it itself."
Chairman Collins says the same thing. "We will look at possibly cutting city services, maybe looking at possibly laying off some city workers," he says. "There are all sorts of options that we'd explore." Mayor Wharton says hey, for now, don't worry. "I don't want anybody to panic," Wharton says, "and start thinking about having to move. The very last thing I want to do is raise property taxes, and I'm going to do everything I can to avoid that."
- Memphians pay highest property tax in Tennessee
- Tax increase for education could be from 15 cents to 50 cents more
- Wharton and others promise to cut fat from city before considering tax
( Memphis 11/18/2009) Property taxes do something.
The poor get poorer and the rich pay until they can't pay anymore and then they move. Then city streets start to resemble the streets of Dresden, Germany in World War II, nothing but vacant rotting shells of what was, at one time, a vibrant neighborhood.
Nobody wants to raise taxes. There's not a politician in America who says he or she wants to raise your taxes. Former Vice-President Walter Mondale said he was going to raise taxes back in 1984, when he was running for President. Ronald Reagan made mince meat out of Mondale that year, winning in a landslide.
But the city might not have much of a choice. The issue is whether the city must pay for city schools, as well as Shelby County paying for city schools. If a court rules the city must pay, it will mean that they'll need to cough up more than 50 million bucks. That could mean a tax increase. "I've heard the increase might be between 15 cents and 50 cents," says Memphis City Council Chairman Harold Collins. Collins doesn't like the idea, and says that if the tax goes through "It's specifically for the educational system. We'd let the taxpayers know that this money is going to the city schools."
Newly elected Mayor A C Wharton had never mentioned possibly raising taxes while running for office. Politicians don't forget that Mondale thing. But now, for the first time, he's mentioned it. "The first avenue is that we look at making government as fiscally responsible as possible. We'd look at every department and every aspect of government to see where we could cut." One place he doesn't expect to get any help is from Nashville. "Anybody who thinks anything is going to happen in Nashville where we get money," Wharton says, "must be smoking something. This is a state that can barely make it itself."
Chairman Collins says the same thing. "We will look at possibly cutting city services, maybe looking at possibly laying off some city workers," he says. "There are all sorts of options that we'd explore." Mayor Wharton says hey, for now, don't worry. "I don't want anybody to panic," Wharton says, "and start thinking about having to move. The very last thing I want to do is raise property taxes, and I'm going to do everything I can to avoid that."
