Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris’ 2026 budget proposal calls for a 20% cut in property taxes.
If approved, this would be the county’s lowest property tax rate in nearly 30 years.
Mayor Harris presented a $1.7 billion budget to the Shelby County Commission on Wednesday. That’s up from last year’s $1.6 billion budget.
The mayor also wants to give county employees a 3% pay raise.
Last year, they received a 6% bump in pay.
Harris calls this year’s budget season “particularly unpredictable” because of funding cuts at the federal level.
“Consequently, many of our programs that rely on federal grants have been put in jeopardy, and we’ve had to lay off several of our Shelby County employees because of federal cuts to funding,” he said. “Our budget is always lean. But considering the change in Washington, we have prioritized opportunities to step up and step into the gap.”
Mayor Harris says federal funding accounts for 30% of the county’s overall budget, including hundreds of millions of dollars for Memphis-Shelby County Schools.
“This budget, and this historic property tax rate cut, means more money in the pockets for working families,” he told Action News 5 on Wednesday. “While every city in Shelby County has increased taxes or contemplated it, I propose that Shelby County Government manage its finances like we all do in our households, we don’t spend more than what we receive.”
