MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The Shelby County Commission will be debating whether or not to lower your tax rate during a scheduled meeting Monday.
A proposal before the commission suggests lower the tax rate from $4.13 to $4.10.
Supporters of the decrease like Commissioner Terry Roland said with a current surplus, their main focus should be retaining residents in the county.
On Live at 9 Monday, Roland stated in the last 20 years, the population of Shelby County has remained stagnant while property taxes have doubled.
He then compared that to Nashville and Davidson County, who welcome approximately 84 new residents a day. Their property tax, he said, is half of what the county’s is.
Couple that with the fact employees can commute to work from outside the area and you’ve got a situation that needs to be addressed, Roland said.
But opponents of the measure said that three cents could be used to provide better services like police protection, schools, health services or community projects to those areas that desperately need them.
So what does this ultimately mean for you?
If the property tax rate is dropped from $4.13 to $4.10, a Shelby County resident who owns a $100,000 home would pay about $7.50 less on their taxes a year.
For those owning a $150,000 home they would pay $12 less.
Keeping it at $4.13 could improve services, opponents said.
“What tax payer wouldn’t want to pay $6 or $12 if they could get improved government services in law enforcement protection, health services, education. Who wouldn’t want to do that?” asked Commissioner Bailey Monday on Live at 9.
Commissioners are also expected to vote on a proposal to give all county employees a one percent raise.