Fifteen of the properties sold for less than the taxes owed. Every property that went to an out-of-town buyer sold for less than the taxes owed.
MEMPHIS, August 19, 2026 - Shelby County commissioners voted three to nothing to send the full Commission the sale of 17 county-owned delinquent tax parcels for a combined $167,126.00, a price the land bank administrator told the committee is $32,969.75 above the total asking price and still leaves the county $98,999 short on back taxes.
The item came before Committee 11, Core City, Neighborhoods and Housing, sponsored by Commissioner Henri E. Brooks, who chairs that committee. The parcels were acquired by the county from various Shelby County tax sales, and the resolution authorizes the county mayor to execute quitclaim deeds under Tennessee Code Annotated section 67-5-2507.
The numbers as presented
The land bank administrator gave the committee three figures. The total asking price across the 17 properties was $134,156.25. The total sales price was $167,126.00. The difference, $32,969.75, is what the county collected above what it asked.
Against back taxes, the picture reverses. She reported a negative back tax collection of $98,999, and said 15 of the properties sold for less than the back taxes owed on them.
The out-of-town question
Commissioner Brooks pressed on who the buyers are.
The administrator initially told the committee there were four out-of-town purchasers buying 15 of the parcels. Asked how many of the properties sold below back taxes went to out-of-town buyers, she paused to check and then answered that all of the properties sold to out-of-town purchasers sold for less than back taxes, and that those totaled nine properties.
The exchange contains a numerical conflict the record does not resolve. Fifteen properties sold below back taxes and nine went to out-of-town buyers, but the earlier statement described four out-of-town purchasers taking 15 parcels. The committee did not return to it, and no written breakdown was read into the record.
What the record does establish without ambiguity: every parcel that went to an out-of-town purchaser sold for less than the taxes owed on it.
The vote
Aye votes came from Commissioner Amber Mills, Commissioner Brooks and Commissioner David C. Bradford, Jr. Three aye votes sent the item forward with a favorable recommendation. No other commissioner was in the queue and no further questions were asked.
What happens next
The full Commission adopted the resolution on the consent agenda on Monday, August 24, 2026, on 12 aye votes, without discussion. The resolution authorizes the county mayor to execute quitclaim deeds to the identified purchasers. The numerical conflict in the purchaser counts was not resolved at that meeting, and no written breakdown was read into the record.
