In his first budget presentation to the Memphis City Council, Mayor Paul Young recommended a 75-cent hike in city property taxes.
Young explained that if the 75-cent property tax increase is implemented, homeowners with a $100,000 property can expect their taxes to rise by around $188.
Other noteworthy aspects of the budget proposal include $7 million allocated for afterschool care, an increase of 3% increase in salary for every city employee, roughly $2.5 million in cameras to help reduce violent crime, and $8 million to fight blight, remove litter and clean the streets of Memphis.
Additionally, Mayor Young stated that the funds could be utilized to entice new businesses, enhance public safety measures, and develop programs for children.
Jake Cook, host of the Nation of Jake, sees this as a worrying trend that could soon lead to a mass exodus of Memphians tired of crime followed by ongoing rising costs of living.
“Right now inflation is very high, interest rates are very high… and so you just keep on nickel and diming people to death, they’re going to look at their bottom line and say ‘we need a better value’,” Cook said. “We can go move somewhere else that doesn’t have the crime problem and the property taxes are much lower.”
