Memphis City Council’s Budget and Audit Committee approved most of a funding resolution presented by Mayor Paul Young to use $2.8 million in interest from American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to restore or expand social service programs during its Tuesday, Aug. 19, meeting.
However, members chose to remove the largest portion of the proposal — $900,000 dedicated to so-called “integrity in policing” — and replaced it with a similar amount to fund blight remediation efforts.
There was little opposition to Council member Rhonda Logan’s motion to split the item. Instead, members tentatively agreed to fund a blight remediation task force and to pursue blight cases in Shelby County Chancery Court.
Blight cases are currently pursued in Environmental Court, but remedies are limited as cases often stall on progress reports of code violations or because owners lack funds to make necessary repairs.
“The goal is to prosecute all of the cases in Chancery Court,” said City Attorney Tannera Gibson. “I will just turn my focus to making sure the task force has what it needs. I’m 100% sure we have the funding.”
The money would be used to hire legal personnel, freeing blight control officers to focus on their intended work, since many currently act as ad hoc legal staff for Environmental Court. The remainder would go toward vacant land acquisition and other costs associated with blight remediation.
Moreover, the city can recoup funds when a restored property is sold to a new owner out of receivership.
“It would become self-funding as a goal over time,” Gibson said.
A vote on the replacement proposal was postponed until the next Budget Committee meeting on Sept. 9. Council member Jerri Green requested the delay, citing concerns about the funding amount. Before that meeting, she seeks a full accounting of available interest accrued from ARPA funds.
In 2021, the federal government granted $161 million in ARPA dollars to Memphis during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I’d love to know how much more is out there,” Green said. “I get suspicious with round numbers.”
She also questioned how long the administration had been aware of the pot of money Young called a “happy surprise.” During the recent budget season, which wrapped up in June, commission members and Young debated $1.2 million to raise baseline city employee salaries to $40,000.
“We didn’t have that during budget time, now we’ve found $2.8 million. So, it’s concerning to me that I didn’t see this in the budget. I assume you had projections of what the interest would be. I would also like to know how much is left in interest,” Green said.
City of Memphis Chief Financial Officer Walter Person is expected to provide those figures at the next meeting.
If the money is confirmed, Green said she could support both blight remediation and law enforcement oversight.
“I’m trying to level set because we might be able to do both. We might not have to keep fighting over the same little small pot of money,” she said.
The “integrity in policing” proposal is Young’s attempt to continue work after the Trump administration’s Department of Justice declined a December report that recommended creating the task force. Despite that decision, a judge was appointed as an independent monitor to lead the task force, which aims for “constant improvement” within the police department.
The funding would cover the costs of the independent monitor and independent studies “necessary to undertake the work.” According to Young, the $900,000 cost is a bargain. Similar efforts in other cities have ranged from $1.4 million to $3 million annually.
“We thought this $900,000 amount is a good amount to be able to undertake this work and continue our commitment to the community irrespective of any involvement from the Department of Justice,” Young said.
Still, Green criticized the proposal as “blank.” Further details are expected at the upcoming committee meeting.
“I do want to be clear, the integrity in policing effort is the result of a dialogue that we had at the end of last year,” Young said. “We certainly can bring more information about what it consists of.”
The other parts of Young’s proposal received little scrutiny. They include $750,000 to the Boys & Girls Club of Memphis to restore lost programs; $400,000 to private boarding school Pure Academy to invest in programming; and $150,000 to Alliance Healthcare Services, which provides psychiatric care and is currently building a facility to treat children.
“You are the pieces of the puzzle to make our city better, for it to be a thriving city. We are so grateful for the work you do. We are very excited to be able to allocate these funds to your organizations,” commended Council member Janika White.
