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Memphis council approves FY2026 budget amendments amid union appeals to honor prior impasse agreement
Summary
The City Council approved several fiscal-year 2026 budget amendments, including corrections to benefits line items and unfunding of select positions, while union leaders and public speakers urged the council to honor a prior impasse agreement and preserve approved raises for city employees.
The Memphis City Council on Wednesday approved multiple amendments to the fiscal year 2026 operating budget and advanced the city's overall appropriation ordinance after hours of debate and public testimony, including appeals from union representatives to honor a previously ratified impasse agreement.
Council actions included a correction reducing group life insurance and long-term disability line items that Councilwoman Green said resulted in a $95,000 net increase to unassigned fund balance; an amendment that unfunded three lower-paid positions in Animal Services (moving $162,106 to unassigned fund balance); and other targeted adjustments. Each amendment passed on separate roll-call votes and staff told the council the changes were budget-neutral, moving previously budgeted amounts into fund balance.
Why it matters: Union leaders and labor representatives urged the council to uphold pay raises and bonuses the council had previously approved. Thomas Malone, speaking for the Memphis firefighters association, said the impasse ordinance adopted after the 1978 strike requires the council to carry negotiated impasse results into the mayor's budget and keep the city from reneging on those agreements: "We put the faith and trust in this system. I'm asking you to honor last year's statement and trust the system that you're talking about trusting and pay what you said you would pay."
Council leaders and the administration argued fiscal prudence was necessary given the city's fund balance constraints. CFO Walter Person said certified revenues will be clearer after the tax collection season and cautioned against basing the budget on speculative revenues. "We want to make a budget on sound, proven revenues ... that's called fiscal responsibility," Person said.
Public testimony reflected frustration from workers who said small-percentage increases and delayed raises will leave them unable to keep pace with rising living costs. Christopher Jones, a union representative, asked the council to "honor your vote and stand by your decision to invest in Memphis workers." Several speakers warned reversing earlier commitments would harm employees who had planned around the approved raises.
The council adopted the city's annual appropriation ordinance for FY2026 (ordinance number 5944) on final reading. The ordinance passage and the special operating budget amendments were taken together as part of the council's budget actions for the fiscal year.
Next steps: Councilmembers said they will revisit compensation and staffing questions later in the fiscal year as revenue clarity emerges; some members supported creating a task force to study pay and hourly wages. The administration indicated the city will revisit raises when certified revenues are available in the fall.
