Yes-and-no commission personifies dysfunction
If all the painstaking preparation for a new school year in Shelby County breaks down because of financial chaos, you’ll have the County Commission to thank for it.
Specifically, you can thank Commissioners James Harvey and Justin Ford — along with newcomer Steve Basar, who, because of Ford’s and Harvey’s startling votes, was unwilling to stick his neck out for a tax increase.
Such is life with these elected officials who have given new meaning to the term dysfunction. Only this time, their action could adversely impact public education at a time when stability and cooperation are sorely needed.
It’s not so much that the commission voted last week against a 36-cent increase in the county’s property tax rate after signaling that the increase would pass. It’s the way in which it was done. Commissioners had already signed off on a county budget, including a $20 million increase for the new unified school district.
Because Memphis is no longer financially supporting schools, the additional money has to come from the county coffers. County Mayor Mark Luttrell proposed a 30-cent increase in the $4.02 tax rate just to make current ends meet, and an additional 6 cents for the schools.
But the 13-member commission — which approved the operating budget in June — said no to the tax increase by a 5-7 vote, with Memphis Democrats Harvey and Ford providing the swing nay votes.
Now school leaders are in a bind. And it’s unlikely the commission can make amends before classes start Aug. 5.
“The timing of the decision is irresponsible and creates a chaotic and untenable position for the district,” interim Supt. Dorsey Hopson said after the commission vote.
“Our focus should be on opening schools. Now, we must spend significant energy scrambling to figure out what the 11th-hour decision means for our budget and, more importantly, our students.
“If the County Commission does not honor its commitment to the district and fund the district at the level it has already approved, it will not be best for kids.”
Hopson is not just blowing smoke. His only alternative would be to cut more teachers, which would further cripple the unified system as it tries to get off the ground.
Ford says he’s now planning to create his own county budget. Good luck with that. And Harvey is just happy to be the new commission chairman, thanks to votes from commission conservatives who were never going to vote for a tax increase no matter what.
“All we’re asking (from commissioners) is to give us an idea of how much money we’ll have to fund county government,” Luttrell said. “When we get clarity from them, we’ll work this out.”
Good luck with that also, mayor. Because with this disparate bunch of commissioners, clarity does not compute. Otis Sanford holds the Hardin Chair of Excellence in Journalism at the University of Memphis. Contact him at 901-678-3669 or at o.sanford@memphis.edu.