MEMPHIS, September 14, 2026 - The Shelby County Board of Commissioners approved two vendor contracts totaling $368,700 for consulting services related to the Shelby County Trustee's tax collection system on September 14, 2026, as part of a consent agenda passed 13 to nothing.

The larger contract, not to exceed $277,500, goes to Mergers Acquisitions Divestitures PLLC for project management services and draws on Capital Improvement Program funds. The smaller, not to exceed $91,200, goes to FinHealth, LLC and draws on the Trustee General Fund. Both run from execution through June 30, 2027, with the option to renew for two additional one-year periods.

Commissioner Erika Sugarmon moved the consent agenda. Commissioner Will Richardson seconded. No commissioner entered the queue. The chairwoman asked for the screen and the item passed with thirteen aye votes.

The three minutes it got in committee

The item had one substantive exchange in its entire legislative life, at the September 9, 2026 committee meeting.

Commissioner Sugarmon asked whether there were any nonresponsive bidders on the solicitation. The purchasing administrator said no one was deemed nonresponsive on that particular request for qualifications. She thanked him and noted she would be asking that question throughout the session.

The item advanced with ten aye votes. From caption to vote it ran roughly three minutes.

What the project is

The resolution caption says the contracts are for consulting services related to the trustee's tax collection system, and that one of them is for project management services. It does not say what the project is.

Nothing in the record of either meeting establishes what the tax collection system project consists of, what problem it addresses, when it began, what it will cost in total, or what the second firm's role is beyond the word consulting.

The trustee's office had asked, on September 9, to give a three-minute overview of the office. That request was deferred for time. As of October 7, 2026 the overview has not been given. So the body approved two contracts on the office's core revenue system without ever hearing the office describe itself.

The scale of what the system handles

The system these consultants are engaged on is the mechanism behind the numbers the outgoing trustee reported to commissioners in August 2026: a 97.69 percent collection rate on 2025 taxes and total receipts at 101.5 percent of forecast. The same office reported record investment income of $49.9 million for the year just closed.

What happens next

Both contracts run through June 30, 2027 with two one-year renewal options each. The 901 Report has asked the trustee's office to describe the tax collection system project, its total cost and its schedule, and has asked when the deferred office overview will be given.

Your city. Your money. Your receipts.