Legislative News

Memphis councilman wants to use scameras to tax people who come to "often" to city.  Vehicle "inspection" fee.  TAX/TOLL.

Ban the Cams note:  I wonder how long before every vistor has to "pay" the "inspection fee"????

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2012/may/15/memphis-councilman-proposes-vehicle-inspection-fee/?partner=popular

Memphis councilman proposes vehicle inspection fee for Memphians, non-residents
 By Amos Maki

Posted May 15, 2012 at 5:35 p.m., updated May 15, 2012 at 11:09 p.m.

 
Memphis City Council member Edmund Ford Jr. on Tuesday proposed fees for vehicle inspections and rental-property permits to recover the city's costs for anti-pollution and blight-reduction programs.

The City Council will consider a number of "cost recovery" plans in the next several weeks -- including new fees for city services and raising health care costs for city employees -- to lighten the city's financial burden.

The motor-vehicle inspection fee Ford proposed would apply to Memphians and non-Memphians who frequently enter the city.

The councilman said the city could place the license plate readers that are now on Memphis Police Department vehicles at strategic entrances to the city and use the 25 red-light cameras scattered across the city to determine which non-Memphians are traveling to the city at least two or three days a week, every week.

Ford's goal is to identify nonresidents who work in the city -- contributing to the air-quality problems that force Memphians to go through inspection -- while weeding out tourists or people who may be visiting relatives in Memphis hospitals.

"It would help our air quality and it would help offset the $2.7 million we spend on inspections and, if anything is left over from the cost to operate the inspections, it could help reduce the property-tax rate," Ford said.

"In addition to Memphians, everybody else would be paying, and that's what Memphians want, for people who use our infrastructure to pay their fair share."

(Ban the Cams note:  Quit spinning.  EVERYONE knows this is being done as a TAX!)

Ford also proposed a fee that would be paid by rental-property owners to help offset costs the city incurs in its long-running fight against blight.

The councilman has not yet placed a dollar amount on the fees, which were approved by a committee Tuesday but will go back for further study.

The council's budget committee chairman said the city could also save taxpayers millions by increasing health care premiums for city employees by three percentage points.

Councilman Jim Strickland said the city should increase the amount workers pay for their health care to 30 percent, up from the current 27 percent.

"If city employees paid 30 percent, it would save $3 million a year in the operating budget," Strickland said. "I think we'll have that discussion. I think that should be one of the options."

An employee contribution of 30 percent is mandated by ordinance, but city workers and retirees have been paying less than that percentage for several years. Currently, the city funds 73 percent of the cost while employees account for 27 percent.

In 2010, the council approved a plan to bring the amount employees pay up to 30 percent over two years. The amount was raised to 27 percent from 26 percent last year, but the administration of Mayor A C Wharton decided not to raise the rates this year after it slapped employees with a 4.6 percent pay cut that saved $17 million, leaving taxpayers with the $3 million tab for health care.

The full council struck down another cost recovery proposal made by Ford, voting 9-4 against raising the city's hotel-motel tax to 2.7 percent, a 1 percent increase.

Ford proposed the increase to help cover a $1 million operating deficit from the Memphis Cook Convention Center, which is expected to increase to around $2 million a year since the city acquired Shelby County's stake in the property.

Hospitality industry officials said they could not support the increase to cover costs for the current convention center, but would be open to an increase if the city decided to build a new convention center or update the existing one.

"We don't disagree with taxes," said Convention & Visitors Bureau president Kevin Kane. "We just think this is not the appropriate time to increase the hotel-motel tax."

 -- Amos Maki:               (901) 529-2351      
 

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