FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Joe B. Kent, Memphis Raise Your Expectations
Phone: 901-574-4753
Email: jkent@pathtrek.net
MRYE Meets with Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris
Progress on Economic Development Policy
Memphis, Tennessee, October 23, 2018 – MRYE met today with Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris and presented him with this letter which contains MRYE’s balanced economic development policy recommendations.
We, at MRYE, believe substantive progress was made with the Mayor on 1) ending the Economic Development Growth Engine (EDGE) retention payment-in-lieu of payment (PILOT) program, 2) some change in Economic Development Growth Engine (EDGE) board membership in the immediate near term and 3) more connected public accountability for the Greater Memphis Chamber of Commerce.
MRYE and Mayor Harris also productively discussed the need to raise expectations and thinking bigger in areas regarding career ready education, public transit and small business development. As an example, MRYE conceptually proposed a Nation leading career education initiative that would clearly and publicly define workforce development organizational areas of focus for 1) in-school audiences and 2) out of school audiences with the support of a research based plan, data, measurement and career pathways curriculum. Properly implemented, the plan stands to retain/develop talent, decrease the career counselor caseload and potentially save money while increasing career ready post-secondary completion rates.
MRYE further discussed that public awareness training needs to take place related to tax rates and tax burden. Such awareness training helps provide the foundation for providing a dedicated public transit funding source. For example, in the meeting, it was discussed that the combined Memphis/Shelby property tax rate is higher than Nashville/Davidson but the Memphis/Shelby property tax burden is lower than Nashville/Davidson.
MRYE also demonstrated and shared concerns regarding EDGE incomplete retention PILOT accounting methodologies and measurement that have gone to justify excessive retention PILOTs and undermine the tax base costing Memphis/Shelby taxpayers and a community in need millions. Concerns over excessive EDGE residential PILOTS were additionally communicated to the Mayor.
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About Memphis Raise Your Expectations (MRYE)
MRYE is the local grassroots economic development thought leader. MRYE was the first to conduct a public survey on economic development while leveraging the Amazon Road Map criteria and publicly proposing on the record the prioritized adoption of the Amazon Road Map and a definition for economic development based on improving the social well-being of people.