TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Azya Thornton on Feb 12, 2025

Two Shelby County legislators have brought back a proposal to fund a new Shelby County jail by asking voters to hike the sales tax rate. Rep. John Gillespie, R-Memphis, and Sen. Raumesh Akbari, D-Memphis, proposed a bill that would allow Shelby County to ask voters whether to raise the local-option sales tax from 2.75% to 3.75%. According to The Daily Memphian, if the bill clears the Tennessee General Assembly, the tax increase would still require approval through a local referendum. While the bill does not explicitly name Shelby County, it applies to counties with populations exceeding 900,000, a threshold only Shelby County meets. Fiscal estimates attached to the bill project that the tax hike would generate more than $1.8 billion over nine fiscal years, with the revenue designated to retire debt from constructing a new jail. The bill was set to be heard by a Tennessee House committee today.