County Comm. Squabbles Over School Buildings

Memphis, Tn - Monday's Shelby County Commission meeting erupted into arguments and insults as commissioners tried to get involved in the fight over school buildings.

The suburbs are counting on these buildings to start municipal schools districts.

But, the School Board owns the buildings and the County Government paid for the buildings.

So, County Commissioner Mike Ritz presented a resolution that would lay out how the buildings would be transferred to the suburbs.

It said they should be paid "fair market value" or an amount agreed to by the school board, as long as it didn't cause more debt for the county.

Shelby County is more than $1.5 billion in debt, mostly because of school buildings.

This resolution is not what the suburbs have in mind.

They are banking on getting the buildings for free to avoid a big tax hike to pay for the new municipal school districts.

Today's resolution was strongly opposed by suburban commissioners.

It was sent to committee, then brought back up again for a vote.

The resolution failed. Suburban commissioners called it a victory for municipal districts.

This means its back in the hands of the School Board. They meet on Tuesday and the fate of the buildings is expected to be a topic.