Crazyland: The Coming Tax Increases in Shelby County and the Waste of Civic Energy over Consolidation

Shelby County Politicos Burning  Tax Dollars


So many politicos in this town have wasted civic energy on consolidation efforts that were never going to improve our community, both metro and school consolidations. Now they are asking us to pay for their craziness.

Time is Money and they have burned through it for several years now.
Please stop the madness.

Why The Rush to Surrender MCS Charter ?

The message is UNTRUE.

Memphis City Schools (MCS) will not lose 50% of their funding if Shelby County School (SCS) District becomes a special school district.

So how much will MCS lose due to a Shelby County Special School District?

The answer is ZERO.

After all the screaming and the “fake faints”, MCS doesn’t lose a dime. The architects of all this drama will continue to spin another story, but here’s the truth and the numbers.

According to their (MCS) numbers, the sources of funds are as follow (proposed MCS 2010-2011 Budget) (General Fund):

State of Tennessee: 50.5% or $450.3 million
Shelby County: 28.6% or $254.9 million
Local Sales Tax : 9.99% or $ 89.1 million
City of Memphis : 8.78% or $ 78.3 million
Federal Funds : 0.89% or $ 7.9 million
Local Funds : 0.22% or $ 2.0 million

First off, + 50% of MCS budget is derived from the state of Tennessee. Alike, the local sales tax, city of Memphis, Federal Funds, Local Funds would continue.

That leaves the contribution from Shelby County (commission) which makes up 28.6% of the budget. This is where the smoke and mirrors come in. These dollars don’t disappear from the MCS budget, if special school status is given to SCS.

The bottom line is: The Shelby County Commission cannot exit the ADA and MOE requirements. The combined contributions of the Memphis City Council and Shelby Commission cannot go away by law.

In the future, the county commission dominated by city interests will remain in place. The Shelby County Commission would still be obligated to fund at least the current $254.9 million. Unless of course, Memphis City School’s ability to count students is questioned again by city council members.

So why the “fake faints” over all this?

Tom Guleff
Memphis, TN
901-413-7804


Here's the link to the proposed MCS 2010-2011 Budget (General Fund) of $891 million:http://www.mcsk12.net/forms/Budget/2011%20Proposed%20Budget%20Revised%20-%20Web2.pdf

Link to lawsuit between MCS and Memphis City Council http://www.abc24.com/media/lib/10/6/0/7/6073965a-93af-48ae-b567-f0b1adf37caf/State_ex_rel_BoardofEducationofMemphisCitySchools_v_Memphis_OPN.pdf

Their Cult- Like Fascination with CONSOLIDATION

The pro-consolidation forces are back !!!!!!

To be honest, the cult-like fascination with Consolidation is creepy. After being soundly defeated by an 85% margin in the county, the losing side wants to re-write the narrative of its demise and bring it back to life. I could understand the current effort, if the vote was close, but it wasn’t.

This small group appears disconnected from political reality. This is just plain weird.

Here is the proposed resolution by Steve Mulroy to the County Commission.


http://agendapub.shelbycountytn.gov/sirepub/mtgviewer.aspx?meetid=411&doctype=AGENDA

ITEM NO: ______________ PREPARED BY: _____________


APPROVED BY:


RESOLUTION IN SUPPPORT OF THE CONCEPT OF CONSOLIDATION.


SPONSORED BY COMMISSIONER STEVE MULROY.
___________________________________________________________


WHEREAS, this body narrowly passed an October 2010 resolution expressing its
opposition to the Metro Charter on the November 2010 ballot; and


WHEREAS, many of those voting for this resolution supported the idea of Metro consolidation but had reservations only about the particular Metro Charter on the ballot; and


WHEREAS, there is a danger that this resolution could be misinterpreted as opposition to metro consolidation generally; and


WHEREAS, some Shelby County citizens legitimately believe that further attempts to achieve Metro consolidation with an improved Metro Charter draft are appropriate and inevitable; and

WHEREAS, it is appropriate that this body’s prior resolution not be misconstrued as being unduly dismissive of citizens taking that view;

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Shelby County Board of Commissioners supports the concept of consolidation, and is open to the idea of revisiting a Metro Charter process in an upcoming election cycle, provided that:

(a) The City Council and County Commission have greater input into the selection of members of any appointed Metro Charter Commission;

(b) Greater efforts are made to achieve racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic diversity among any Charter Commission appointees;

(c) Appropriate efforts are made to avoid any undue influence of corporate interests on the process; and

(d) The issue of school consolidation, if still applicable, should be given weight equal to that of any other major issue in Charter Commission deliberations.

________________________________
Mark H. Luttrell, Jr.
COUNTY MAYOR


Date: _________________________


ATTEST:
________________________________
CLERK OF COUNTY COMMISSION


ADOPTED: __________________________

Vote No for Ordinance # 360 - Shelby County (TN)

In politics, Shelby County Ordinance #360 is a Trojan horse and should be repelled. Although disguised as a remedy to fix the defect in the current charter, the commission has “bundled” the measure with a provision to weaken our term limits from 2 terms to 3 terms. A “bundling” trick they’ve learned from the politicos in Washington, DC.

Send a strong “NO” signal to the politicians who are attempting to undo the 1994 referendum that established the two 4-year terms for the county commissioners and the county mayor by turning away this ordinance.

We encourage voters to vote “NO” on Ordinance #360, and send this Trojan horse at galloping speed back to the Shelby County Board of Commissioners so they can focus on the provisions of creating offices and end their backdoor approach to weakening our current term limits.

If the city of Memphis is in desperate need of term limits, and we believe they are, then why is Shelby County moving backwards?


To view the proposed ordinance, visit Shelby County Election Commission - Home