Topic
Follow the money. This page collects our budget coverage across every body we track: the City of Memphis proposed $898 million operating budget, the roughly $1.7 billion schools budget, the Shelby County budget, and MLGW's ratepayer spending. One place to see where the public's money goes.
Filter
The county could not issue its payroll borrowing without an emergency waiver from the Tennessee Comptroller, because its fiscal 2026 budget was never state-approved. The fiscal 2027 budget is due August 31.
The 901 Report
The Memphis City Council approved Mayor Paul Young's FY2027 budget 11 to 1 on June 23, holding the tax rate flat and adding $5 million for AutoZone Park, but without the transit and violence-prevention money residents pressed for over weeks of hearings.
The 901 Report
The Memphis City Council delayed its FY27 budget vote on June 9 after residents demanded more funding for violence prevention, transit, and housing. The decision is due back at the Council's next scheduled meeting.
The 901 Report
Janika White (Super District 8-2), chairing the budget block, stated publicly that the FY27 budget cannot meet the city's needs through cuts and named a tax increase as a topic Council needs to discuss. The 10,000 housing units math gap was confirmed. The City Attorney did not mention the Tyre Nichols civil trial. The livestream dropped during the Parks presentation.
The 901 Report
The administration confirmed on the public record that the Memphis Police Department's proposed $29.8M FY27 overtime budget is not an operational reduction. $4-5M of it comes from a state Violence Intervention grant that expires in FY28. When the grant ends, the cost lands back on the General Fund.
The 901 Report
The first FY27 Memphis budget hearing in plain English. Council got real answers on the debt cliff, pre-K, and potholes. They did not ask about police overtime, the $13M contractor cut, or the Tyre Nichols civil trial. And the 10,000 housing units promise got quietly redefined.
The 901 Report
The Council's FY27 budget hearings run through early June. The final vote is scheduled before the fiscal year begins on July 1. Here is what is still open.
The 901 Report
The Council's first week of FY27 budget hearings covered police, fire, public works, and general services. The pattern was consistent: presentations answered how much, not what for.
The 901 Report
Gov. Bill Lee’s Education Freedom Scholarship Act is now a live fight for Memphis families, not a talking point. The question for Shelby County is simple: who gets paid first when the state redirects education money?
The 901 Report
MSCS has put a $1.7 billion budget on the table for 2026-27, and the new state-appointed board is walking into the hardest question in city schools: what gets cut, what gets protected, and who owns the fallout?
The 901 Report
Police and fire went before Council on May 19 in the first substantive FY27 budget hearing. The Memphis Police Department is on track for roughly $221 million under the mayor's proposal.
The 901 Report
72% of Mayor Paul Young's proposed $898 million FY27 budget is personnel: salaries, health insurance, and pensions. The pension piece is the one nobody wants to talk about.
The 901 Report
Memphis-Shelby County Schools has put forward a $1.7 billion budget for 2026-27 as a new state-appointed board prepares to take over. The proposal puts funding choices, staffing, and school stability back under a microscope.
The 901 Report