County mayor candidate talks MATA, taxes and development
- georgeboyington
- Aug 1
- 2 min read
...[Burgess] repeatedly said to the crowd, “You deserve better.”
Melvin Burgess spoke Thursday, July 31, at the Frayser Exchange Club. (Bill Dries/The Daily Memphian)
Shelby County Assessor of Property Melvin Burgess Jr. came to Frayser on Thursday, July 31, to talk about property taxes and issues in next year’s race for Shelby County mayor.
The former Shelby County commissioner is in his second term as assessor and is among those running in the 2026 Democratic primary for county mayor.
Burgess was quick to tell the 30 people at the Frayser Exchange Club meeting his office doesn’t set the tax rate or send out tax bills. But he does hear appeals.
He also said he and his staff found “new growth” in the county that helped to lower the county property tax rate of $3.39 per $100 of assessed value to $2.69 before fiscal year 2026 started July 1.
The State of Tennessee lowered the rate. It sets a certified tax rate to produce the same amount of revenue for a local government accounting for reappraisal values.
A couple of questions from Impact Baptist Church Pastor Mike Ellis, the leader of the Exchange Club, prompted Burgess to talk more about blighted properties.
“All these properties that are out there like that, give them back to the CDCs,” Burgess said, referring to community development corporations. “I don’t want you just to get the land and just sit on it and say you can’t do nothing with it.”
He said the county might consider some incentives for property owners.
The Memphis City Council and County Commission recently approved a “Building Home” program. It moves parcels of land, which the governments either take or are given, to the Memphis-Shelby County Division of Planning and Development specifically to come up with development plans.
When asked about more county resources for Northaven, an unincorporated area of northern Shelby County, Burgess said, “Everybody will have a seat at the table.”
Burgess made no reference to outgoing Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris, who is term-limited from seeking a third consecutive term. But he repeatedly said to the crowd, “You deserve better.” He also included issues within the city, including public transportation.
“I don’t even want to talk about New Chicago. I’ve got a property in New Chicago, but I can’t even rent it,” Burgess said. “You know why? Because of the transportation.”
Burgess conceded the county does not control the Memphis Area Transit Authority, although the commission has approved funding for MATA in past fiscal years while trying to get at least one seat on the city transit authority’s board for someone the commissioners or the county mayor chooses.
“Now the county’s not part of MATA, but we’ve got to get together and figure out, ‘How do we straighten our transportation issue out?’” he said about seeking more state and federal funding. “We’ve got to work together to fix that transportation issue.”
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