MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Lawyers for the town of Mason, Tennessee, just northeast of Memphis, will be in court Wednesday trying to stop the state comptroller’s office from taking over the town’s finances.
The state says the town has mismanaged its money for 20 years, and the problem has grown worse in the past four or five years under current leadership.
Those problems caused the state to request Mason give up its charter. Town leaders voted against that, but the state has assumed oversight over Mason’s financial operations.
The Tipton County town, which is majority black, claims the state is discriminating against current leadership, and says the financial problems date back to previous administrations.
The NAACP filed a lawsuit against the state in the town’s defense.