Shelby County commissioners approved a tentative property tax rate of $2.71 per $100 of assessed value for fiscal year 2027 by an 8-4 vote. The vote followed an initial 6-5 failure.

The rate is 2 cents higher than the current $2.69 and 5 cents higher than the $2.66 recapture rate.

Michael Whaley proposed the ordinance. The rate designates $1.26 to the general fund, $1.16 to education, and $0.29 to debt repayment. Whaley said, "It's less than a 1% increase over what citizens are paying right now. It does a few things. One, it makes sure we are able to function day to day and take care of the obligations that we have, but it also makes an intentional effort with the substitute to be able to contribute back to the fund balance. I understand that it's still an amount more than zero, but I want to bring us back to the responsibility we have over the county's finances and the size of the fund balance. It will be larger and it will be external. When you take an external tax anticipation note, they charge interest. Interest rates are high right now, so the cost of inaction arguably is much, much higher. It's not just the cost of capital to go out for debt. It's the cost of all of our debt and all of our future debt that could be an issue."

Avante, Clay-Bibbs, Caswell, Sugarmon, Szalaj, Thornton, Brooks and Whaley voted yes. Mills, Morrison, Wright and Bradford voted no. Brooks said, "This is an opportunity to go back to the table and have a little wiggle room." Morrison said, "We really need to realize that Shelby County has not grown over the last decade. Raising the property tax rate is going to hurt, not help our working poor. It's going to hurt housing affordability. We are already a very heavily taxed county." The rate will be revisited June 23.