SHELBY COUNTY, Tenn. — Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris warned that the pandemic will have a devastating effect on the county’s budget.
Less money is projected to come in and that means the county will have to cut spending. If the county wants federal stimulus money it can not immediately lay off any employees.
That means the only option is to cut services.
“We know that the stimulus package makes organizations that receive funds more or less pledge that they won’t lay off anybody until September. The budget picture is bad now and it will darken more as we go through the year,” Harris said.
“We proposed to the county commissioner for example that they prepare themselves to make some cuts so we can make the coming budget year work. We’ve also forewarned them that there may be additional cuts to make later.”
The mayor said police and fire will not be cut.
We should know in mid-April how bad things are when the revenue report for March is released.
