City Council Moving Closer to Funding Memphis Schools

January 22, 2010

The Memphis City Council will vote again Tuesday on whether to fund Memphis City Schools for the current year, and some members think it is likely that the measure will pass this time.

Last week, the council voted against giving the school district the $50 million it promised for the current school year until a court case over school funding reaches completion. The next day, the state Court of Appeals ruled that Memphis has a legal obligation to fund schools.

"We’re 0-for-2 in the courts and we committed to funding them and we need to figure out where to find $50 million," Councilman Kemp Conrad said during a five-person committee meeting Thursday night.

He voted against funding last week, but said he would bring the measure up again Tuesday.

"I think we should find the money by reducing the size of the city budget," he said.

Last year, the council approved $78.3 million in funding for the school district for the current fiscal year. With $28 million already committed from various sources, that left a $50 million hole for the city to fill.

A plan introduced last week would use a mix of reserves and budget cuts to come up with the money.

"There’s not any great alternative," said Councilman Jim Strickland. "What’s the other choice? Raise taxes or cut more from the city budget, which this council has been reluctant to do."

The funding deal proposed by Strickland relies on using $30 million in city reserves, making $10 million in cuts to the city budget and forgiving $10 million the city says the district owes for bonds issued on behalf of the schools.

Also Thursday, Council Atty. Allan Wade urged council members to ask the Court of Appeals to rehear the school- funding case, saying the ruling did not answer several key questions, such as dual taxation of city residents.

Memphians pay twice for education: Once in county property taxes, which fund the city and county school systems, and again in city property taxes, which fund city schools.

In an effort to shift funding of the city schools to the county, the council reduced its contribution to the district in 2008. The school district sued and a judge ordered the city to pay the district. The appellate court heard the case in October and issued its ruling last week.

Mike Arcamuzi of Unite Memphis for Education, an MCS support group, blasted council members for cutting the school funding without a proper plan.

"We put our city at risk and we put our children at risk," he said.

While the school-funding issue has dragged on for nearly two years, the debate has produced some cost savings for city taxpayers.

The amount the city owes the school district is $14 million less than what the district originally requested, based in large part on declining enrollment.