March 31, 2008

RICKY WILKINS FEEDING AGAIN AT THE TAXPAYER HOG TROUGH

On December 1, 2007 I sent the following open records request to our City Attorney, Elbert Jefferson.

Dear Mr. Jefferson,

As a taxpayer of the City of Memphis I would like to inspect the

municipal documents, records, letters and communications, both written

and in electronic form, that contain information relevant to the

following subjects.

1) I want to inspect the records and documents that show all

information about the hiring of Mr. Ricky Wilkins and/or his law firm as

a legal council or advisor to the charter commission. I want to see any

contract or communication that shows the agreement as to the cost of his

services to the charter commission and that addresses the services that

he is to perform.

After repeated requests for a reply and preparation for a open records suit in Chancery Court, I finally got the following answer from Mr. Jefferson.

I am unaware of any separate contract for his services. You should have his existing contract already. The Charter Commission has requested the monies authorized by the Council last year for legal and other support services. If I am not mistaken, the Council authorized $100K for temporary support staff, legal and other services. Any Council actions on those items are available via the City Council's website.

I then emailed City Councilman Myron Lowery to tell him of the stonewalling of Mr. Jefferson and he got in touch with Mr. Jefferson and I got a prompt reply for which I thank Mr. Lowery.

This office previously responded to Mr. Saino that we were unaware of any separate contract between the Law Offices of Ricky Wilkins and the City of Memphis, by and through Charter Commission or its City Council. If I am not mistaken, Mr. Saino has previously requested and received documentation regarding the attorney fees paid to The Law Office of Ricky Wilkins. It is our understanding that the Charter Commission agreed to an unwritten arrangement in which The Law Office of Ricky Wilkins was to perform legal services averaged on a monthly basis at the rate of $210 per hour, not to exceed $15,000 per month. Payment at the $15,000 rate was made for two months. The Charter Commission reduced the amount of work required of Mr. Wilkins to an average of $5,000 per month. We are unaware of a formal document that sets forth the specific tasks to be performed; however, they appear to be numerous based on the proposed clean-up of the current Charter and specific items identified through the numerous community meetings. Only the City Attorney and Mayor have authority to hire Special Counsel. Thus, the City's existing contract with The Law Office of Ricky Wilkins was used for purposes of relating services between the City, the Charter Commission, the City Council and The Law Offices of Ricky Wilkins and payment of invoices. The City Attorney's Office pays the invoices and receives reimbursement from the City Council based upon the $100,000 dollars approved by last year's Council. Invoices from outside counsel contain privileged information, including proposed strategies and thus are protected by the attorney-client privilege. Nonetheless, it is my understanding that the City has paid approximately $50,000 for services rendered since September 2007.

Obviously, Mr. Jefferson knew this information all along but did not want to reveal the information until prodded by Councilman Lowery. It is interesting that there is no written contract and Mr. Wilkins billed $15,000 per month (the monthly maximum) until they cut him back to $5000/month and then he billed the maximum per month for four months for the $50,000 to date. I have been to most of the Charter Commission meeting and his $50,000 of work is certainly not in evidence. Also where are his billing and work records to justify the payment?

I have investigated legal fees paid to friends of the Mayor in the past but have not updated my files to current date. I have attached the 2005 records for Ricky Wilkins, Allan Wade and Robert Spence and you will see that he had received nearly $2.5 million dollars then. No telling what it is now. Nice work if you can get it and you can if you are a friend of our wonderful Mayor.

Click here to see the lawyer friends of the Mayor who are feeding at the taxpayers funded hog trough

March 25, 2008

OUR TAX BUCKET HAS A HOLE IN IT!!!

March madness leads to April fools day and this year is no exception. The madness was Mayor Herenton’s announcement that he is going to resign this summer and move on to ruining the Memphis School system or maybe the US Congress. I am sorry to tell him that both are already well on the way to destruction.

The recent announcement by Mayor Wharton and Marlin Mosby that our present course in Memphis and Shelby County is unstainable is something that I have been warning of for some time. Mayor Herenton continues to deny the obvious, making a change of course more difficult. Recently I pointed out some of the major causes of our financial problems and some of the hard and politically difficult decisions that need to be made. I want to explore further another aspect of the financial problem.

There are over 15000 buildings and properties in Shelby County that pay zero property taxes. There are many more that pay only a part share of the full property tax rate. Of the no property tax facilities, they run from an appraisal of over $150 million down. The total is over $3.5 billion. The types of properties include religious, government, apartments, office buildings, manufacturing and warehouse.

Looking more specifically at some examples helps a discussion of why these properties pay no taxes. We could probably all agree that the main church worship building should be free of property taxes. Churches are a big business in Shelby County. But what about all the ancillary activities and property that goes along with many churches such as schools, child care facilities, nursing homes and retirement communities. There are many that feel that some of these facilities should pay some tax, possibility at a lower rate than residential or commercial properties.

Some specific examples are Kirby Pines Estates at 3535 Kirby Road and Trezevant Manor at 177 N. Highland. Together they have a total market appraisal of $110 million. Concerning office buildings you have the Morgan Keegan Building at 50 N. Front at an appraisal of $35 million and Peabody Place at 149 Union at $44 million. Then look at warehouses such as 4880 Tuggle (Ford Memphis Parts Distribution, 4155 E. Holmes (Memphis Distribution Center Panattoni Development Co. LLC), 5461 Davidson (Hamilton Beach, Prologis), and 5200 Tradeport (Chickasaw Distribution Co) for a total appraaisal of $111 million. And then there is the Yellow Freight System at 3914 E. Shelby Drive at over $5 million. All of these paying no property taxes on the buildings as of 2004. How long do these tax abatements run? It varies but as an example, the Ford deal runs from 2002 to 2014.

Who gives these no tax or reduced tax benefits? Principally they are the Industrial Development Board of Memphis and Shelby County, the Center City Revenue Corporation, the Shelby County Health and Education and Housing Facility Board and various other boards constituted in Collierville and other incorporated cities.

We need an honest and transparent discussion of these no tax and partial tax properties in Shelby County as we are facing massive tax increases this year and next. With a shrinking tax base of people able to bear the load, we could be facing a financial disaster. I will be reporting further on this subject in future reports.

March 17, 2008

"Shelby County is now on what we all know is an unsustainable journey to the future." Mayor A. C. Wharton

Congratulations to Mayor Wharton for saying what many of us have known for some time but which few have had the courage to express publicly.

Click here to read the recent Memphis Flyer article stating a fact that few want to face but which is becoming more obvious every day

After reading the article a local person who I respect highly said the following. “Development still shapes policy in this town. Growth is a money maker in the short run and we as citizens pay for it in the long run. We have “bought...built” a bigger “house…community” than we can sustain.”

Memphis has always been run by developers but we can no longer continue to develop without planning and control. Developers hate the thought that this is needed and that the citizens can no longer pay for the schools, roads and infrastructure for their subdivisions and developments. We must plan for a sustainable future or there will be no future for Memphis and Shelby County.

MARCH 3, 2008

DID YOU KNOW THAT THERE ARE OVER 15,000 PIECES OF PROPERTY IN SHELBY COUNTY THAT PAY ZERO PROPERTY TAXES. HERE IS THE LIST.

I have shown attached the list of NO TAX properties as of 2004 here in Memphis and Shelby County. The long list is arranged alphabetically and a large number of the properties are churches and governmental properties. Churches seem to be a very large business if the number of them is any indication. Generally only the sanctuary is excluded from taxes but there are a number of other exemptions for schools and other purposes and these are detailed in the Tennessee Code and can become very complicated. Obviously no operation by churches should compete with the tax paying private sector.

In the shorter selected list attached I have deleted those names that are obviously religious or governmental properties and left those other properties that pay no taxes. Also I have arranged them in decending order of property assessment. You will recognize by the addresses some very prominent pieces of property around town and in the county. As I have time, I will check out these properties to see why they are paying no taxes and report back.

Click here to see those properties that pay no property taxes as of 2004 in Memphis and Shelby County. Look at the addresses and the market appraisals

Click here to see the full list of property tax exempt properties in Memphis and Shelby County as of 2004