Mayor Sending Troops To Nashville To Change Annexation Tax Laws

(Memphis) The newest residents of Memphis made it clear they are worried about their upcoming tax bill.

Homeowners living in parts of South Cordova were officially annexed July 1st.

The On Your Side Investigators are looking into if there is any help for them.

A person in a $150,000 home will have to come up with more than $1,000 to pay their city tax bill by August 31st.

It’s a bill many of them had no idea was coming due.

Frustrations were evident at Wednesday night’s meeting at the Bert Ferguson Community Center between Mayor A C Wharton and his newest constituents.

After learning June 29th they were officially annexed, they learned their city tax bill is due by the August 31st deadline.

Those people who live in a home valued around $150,000 will have to come up with more than $1,000 by then. That’s on top of the $1,500 or so they’ll have to pay in Shelby County taxes

“I think it would be very difficult for most people. Yes, I believe it would,” said Jim Moody, Cordova.

Mayor A C Wharton tells the On Your Side Investigators he understands the frustrations but there is no delaying a tax bill or waving late fees.

State law says all taxpayers must be treated the same.

Mayor Wharton said, “I can tell you my people are working right now to come up with some way even if we have to go to Nashville to try to get some of the laws changed so that when someone is annexed or pulled in the middle of a tax year that they have some time on the back end to make their payments.”

The mayor says they’re going to exhaust all efforts before the city even talks about trying to penalize a homeowner for not paying taxes on time.

“Something needs to be done because you’re going to have a lot of people that’s going to be delinquent because they haven’t budgeted for it,” said Harold Walker, Cordova.

If you are delinquent on your tax bills you’re charged one percent interest on the bill. 

You’re also charged a penalty of a half percent of what you owe each month you’re late. After 30 days of non-payment, the account is turned over for collection.