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Committee advances bill to change how Shelby County charter officers’ budgets are presented
Summary
House Bill 306 — narrowed to apply only to Shelby County — won committee approval after a period of public explanation and questions about current budget practice and mayoral authority.
Vice Chairman Chris Gillespie, sponsor of House Bill 306, told the City-County Subcommittee the bill is intended to “ensure budget integrity for Shelby County charter officers” by changing how elected county officers’ budgets are transmitted and considered. The measure was amended in committee to apply only to Shelby County.
Alicia Lindsey, introduced for the record as chief administrative officer for the Shelby County Sheriff's Office, told the committee the current process has elected officials submit budget proposals to the mayor’s administration, which then decides what to include in the mayor’s proposed budget. Lindsey said that practice can leave the county commission unaware of the original requests from charter officers and that the bill would ensure the legislative body sees the elected officials’ proposed budgets for consideration.
Committee members asked how the process currently works, who ultimately proposes revenue or tax changes if needed and how salary restrictions have been applied. Lindsey said the mayor’s adopted budget resolution in recent years has included restrictions (she cited a figure of roughly $48.8 million for current-year salary restrictions affecting the sheriff’s office) and that the proposed change would make the legislative body’s role clearer when deciding what to include in the final budget.
Representative Mitchell and others pressed whether the mayor would still consolidate budgets and whether the county commission would retain final control of spending; Lindsey confirmed the mayor consolidates the budget and the commission retains appropriation authority. Representative Wright and other committee members requested more specific detail about how the change would operate in practice; Gillespie invited county officials to explain and amended the bill to apply only to Shelby County.
On the motion to advance House Bill 306 as amended, the clerk reported 5 ayes and 2 noes. The ayes prevailed and the bill moves to the next available calendar of state and local government.
The measure is narrowly tailored to Shelby County as amended; sponsors and witnesses emphasized the change is procedural — affecting how charter officers’ proposed budgets are presented to the legislative body — not an immediate appropriation or a change to commission appropriation powers.
