Smart incentives, low taxes spur growth
I believe I am the best candidate for Shelby County mayor because I am deeply involved in the current day-to-day operations and budget of the county.
Because of my unique knowledge and background, I am able to lead Shelby County on day one: initiating critical decisions, tweaking departments to be more efficient, and working with the county commission and other elected officials to reach mutually beneficial goals for all areas of Shelby County.
During my tenure on the county commission, I played a vital role in lowering property taxes twice. As chairman I led the charge allocating the largest increase in school funding without a tax increase.
My opponents have tried to take credit for lowing our county debt and raising our reserves, but only a majority of votes on the County commission can accomplish this goal. My commission colleagues and I, along with the mayor, are responsible for the financial stability of Shelby County.
As mayor, I will continue to work to lower property taxes, creating an incentive for families to come back to Shelby County, building our financial stability even stronger.
The safety of the citizens of Shelby County is my number one priority. Ensuring our first responders have quality equipment, on-going training and benefits that reflects the enormous sacrifice and service they provide daily to our citizens will be my first step to accomplish this goal.
Another challenge is economic growth and bringing jobs that can sustain the growing financial needs of families. My plan to accomplish this is with TIFs (tax increment financing) instead of PILOTs (payments in lieu of taxes).
Nashville is using TIFs for their economic growth. I’m pleased -- after years of teaching and talking about the option -- that many other elected leaders are now utilizing TIFs. TIFs provide public infrastructure for developers at the tax rate of the blighted or empty piece of property while creating construction jobs and once completed additional sales tax and additional jobs for the community.
We must develop a more educated and prepared workforce for the ever changing job market. I believe government must partner with the private sector to target high school students for specific careers.
For example, Memphis is the second largest producer of medical device components in the nation. Due to the dire need for employees, Bartlett Schools and Tennessee College of Applied Technology Memphis (TCAT Memphis) partnered to provide collegelevel machine tool training to juniors and seniors at Bartlett High School.
The partnership includes placement of a machine tool technology lab on the BHS campus to promote early college credits for “in-demand skills”. We need more targeted partnerships like this throughout the entire county to be competitive with other areas of the country.
I am not a bought-and-paid-for politician. I intend to end the culture of corruption and give county government back to the people. I humbly ask for your vote in the Republican Primary on May 1.
Terry Roland is a Shelby County commissioner.