Special Meeting: Mayor Paul Young Presents FY2027 Budget Proposal

Agenda flow

• 1. Invocation

  Completed

  Reverend Dr. Reginald Boyce, pastor of Riverside Baptist Church, opened the meeting in prayer. He asked for wisdom over the mayor, the Council, and city staff, and prayed that the budget would reflect shared prosperity that reaches every zip code.

• 2. Pledge of Allegiance

  Completed

  The standard Pledge of Allegiance was led from the dais.

• 3. Roll call and quorum

  Completed

  The Council clerk called all thirteen members in order at the chair's direction and reported a quorum to the chair. A quorum was confirmed and the meeting was formally in session.

• 4. Chairwoman's opening and rules for public comment

  Completed

  Chairwoman Jana Swearengen-Washington welcomed attendees and said meetings are conducted so the public has a full opportunity to be heard while the Council's deliberative process is preserved. She directed that anyone wishing to speak on a specific item must submit a completed comment request card to staff before that item is called, and that the chair would recognize only citizens who properly registered. She then directed the clerk to call Item 1.

• 5. Item 1: Presentation of the Mayor's FY2027 Proposed Budget

  Completed

  Mayor Paul Young presented the administration's proposed FY2027 operating and capital budget. He called it the administration's third budget and said it was built division by division, with independent revenue estimates prepared with the University of Memphis. The team evaluated more than $150 million in cost pressures and reduction opportunities and reviewed about $38.2 million in division requests, not all of which could be funded. On the operating budget, Young put the total at about $897 million. The proposed general fund total is $897,674,373, with $652,255,708 (about 72.7 percent) in personnel. The budget funds a 2 percent across-the-board increase for all city employees, with agreements reached with all but one union. It holds the line on spending, proposes no property tax increase (rate remains $3.11 per $100 of assessed value), cuts materials and supplies by about 5 percent, and raises grants and subsidies by about 7 percent for community beautification, workforce training, and MATA. Management fees cut a year earlier were restored, the Housing Trust Fund rises from about $2.65 million to $3 million, and the budget includes the city's annual contribution toward the Grizzlies arena shortfall. On revenue, Young said the second xAI facility added about $15 million (roughly $26 million total from that facility), the budget resets auto registration fee estimates to actual collection levels, and it removes non-recurring federal grant revenue. He noted a state bill that could pause population-based payments to the city, which if it advances could allow a fund balance contribution. The administration removed funding from vacant positions across most divisions to balance the budget, with the positions still existing and fundable later if needed. The budget closes the ARPA era with a zero fund balance contribution. On capital, Young described critical neighborhood infrastructure at about $36 million (34 percent) and community spaces at about $15 million (14 percent). The five-year Capital Improvement Program total is $813,553,092 for FY2027 through FY2031. Deliverables include a police station at Southwest Twin, design for a pool at Glenview, improvements at the North Frayser Community Center, design for a new library in Parkway Village, $20 million for paving and potholes, 3,000 summer jobs, upgrades at the Belleview tennis facility and the Overton Park Shell, free summer camp at 25 locations, upgrades to Gooch Park, a South City Museum in the former Porter Junior High School, 20 snowplow attachments, $7 million for early childhood education, asphalt plant upgrades, a new golf clubhouse at Audubon Golf Course, and trail and greenway work at Wolf River, the Chelsea Greenline, and Overton Park. He also cited $1.5 million for opportunity youth workforce training, $1 million for a middle income housing infrastructure program, $10 million in federal housing and community development funds, and about $825,000 more for the Office of Creative and Cultural Economy alongside a Memphis Music Live 365 initiative. Outcome: presentation only. No vote was taken; the FY2027 budget now enters the Council's budget season for division hearings and amendments.

• 6. Public comment

  Completed

  The chair opened the floor to registered speakers. A health educator with the Step Ahead Foundation asked whether the Memphis Ambassadors (MAP) youth program remains funded or is being replaced. Amber Sherman called it an okay budget presentation, said it lacked youth mental health funding, and asked the Council to amend the budget to add $2 million for youth mental health. Several speakers, including a self-identified veteran and organizers connected to Indivisible Memphis, the Sierra Club, and Better Transit for Better Memphis, raised concerns about the Memphis Police Department's handling of a recent protest, the Tyre Nichols case, and the federal consent decree, calling for release of body camera footage and further discipline. Jessica Miller argued the budget increases the City Attorney's office while the city operates under a federal consent decree, and said the city should fund compliance and prevention rather than legal defense. A Better Transit for Better Memphis speaker asked for a $20 million to $30 million increase to transit, saying Memphis funds transit at roughly half the level of comparable cities. A final speaker addressed Memphis economic history and the need for rapid economic revitalization. Outcome: comment only; the asks are logged for the budget season and carry no vote at this meeting.

• 7. Adjournment

  Completed

  Councilman J. Ford Canale moved to adjourn, seconded by Vice Chair Chase Carlisle. The chair thanked attendees and the meeting adjourned.