MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The Shelby County Commission Committee met again on Monday evening, but they could not finalize a budget.
It is a task the Shelby County Commission Committee has been trying to tackle for weeks now, but they are having a difficult time doing so. Some county departments claim they need new hires to function which is making for some complicated money problems. Once again, the Shelby County Commission is being asked to temporarily lift its hiring freeze while it waits on a finalized budget from the mayor’s office.
Regina Newman, a Shelby County Trustee, said they will abide by the salary restrictions that are in place.
“You guys went to great trouble to provide us a budget, including a salary restriction,” Newman said. “Trust us to stay within it.”
Monday night’s potential exception is the 78 positions costing $4.8 million. These jobs that were already in the Shelby County human resources’ hiring queue before the freeze. Commissioner Mick Wright, of District 3, said it would not be a good idea to lift the hiring freeze without having a budget in place.
“I think if we completely lift the hiring freeze totally,” Wright said. “And we don’t have a budget printed, that’s disastrous for us.”
The positions in question fit into the county’s planned budget, but without a finalized budget from Mayor Lee Harris, there is uncertainty about how exactly the dollars will fit. The County Commission has already asked for an official “budget book” from Harris’ office for weeks, but the mayor insists it should not be considered due until mid-to-late September.
Some officials are starting to grow irritated like Commissioner Amber Mills, of District 1.
“There’s been a lot of game playing here,” Mills said. “And it needs to stop. Going from scaring the public, to last week saying that 78 jobs (are) a drop in the bucket.”
The commission agreed to push the item back to the budget committee on Sept. 9th. Mayor Harris attended the commission meeting but did not respond to any frustration. Instead, he is setting a concrete date for the much-discussed budget book.
“September the 8th, that’s what we agreed on,” Harris said.
