Shelby County Budget Update:
A couple of weeks ago, we wrote about the start of the local budget season, with Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris proposing a “66-cent reduction” in the county property tax rate, which he projects will align with the upcoming state-certified tax rate. The Shelby County Commission faces a June 30th deadline to approve the tax rate for FY26, as well as pass the entire budget for the county. The tax rate ordinance requires three readings, and the commission has already passed it on the first two readings with the tax rate left blank. This is typical, as debates reach into June before the body settles on a tax rate on the third reading.
Of course, the tax rate and the budget are dependent on one another; the amount of revenue that needs to be collected from property taxes depends on what the Shelby County Commission wants to do with next year’s budget. Complicating matters, the Shelby County Trustee told commissioners and Mayor Harris this week that the mayor’s proposed budget would result in a $9.5 million hole, based on what she implied were faulty assumptions about tax collection rates. The mayor’s administration built the budget on the assumption that 98% of property taxes would be collected, while Trustee Newman puts that figure at just over 96%, a level she says has not been surpassed in a couple of years.
Meanwhile, the state has yet to fully certify the new property tax rate, leaving another large question looming over budget discussions. We will bring you more as the budget process progresses. Read more here.
