Shelby County committee revises public outreach on tax-abatement "pilot" payments, plans Oct. 11 community meeting

Shelby County Trustee Janice Banks and an ad hoc committee on pilot agreements agreed Friday to revise a public-facing PowerPoint and facilitation guide and to hold a community meeting on Oct. 11 and a committee meeting Oct. 16 to collect public priorities on pilot reform.

The committee focused on making the Oct. 11 forum accessible to residents who may not know what a "pilot" is; members said the presentation must define pilots clearly, show a timeline or case study that illustrates how a tax abatement becomes a contractual payment instead of property tax, and use quick interactive polls to capture attendees' priorities.

Why it matters: committee members said pilot agreements have large fiscal effects but are poorly tracked. Trustee Regine Newman emphasized that pilot payments are contractual and replace property taxes, saying, "They pay no tax at all. There is no property tax. They instead pay a contractual pilot payment." Members said that lack of transparency and decentralized decision-making across multiple authorities makes it hard for the public and elected officials to assess the fiscal impact.

Most important outcomes and planned changes - Presentation edits and outreach: The committee asked staff to revise the slide deck to include (1) a plain-language definition of pilots, (2) an illustrative timeline or simple case study showing taxes before and after a pilot, and (3) a short list of the state statutes authorizing pilots so attendees have a reference. Janice Banks said she will circulate another draft and asked for the native PPTX file to allow collaborators to edit slides.

- Public engagement tools: Rashida Jones offered to add an interactive polling slide (e.g., via Slido) and proposed seeding 3–4 quick questions at start and finish so organizers can do a pre/post check of participants' familiarity and priorities. Jones said she would help integrate the poll once the presentation is finalized.

- Meeting format: Committee members agreed to use a brief case study (an example property) during the plenary so attendees understand the mechanics of a pilot, then move to 15–20 minute table breakouts where facilitators will capture priorities and brief notes. Breakout prompts will ask whether participants recognize development in their neighborhood and what community benefits they expect.

- Priorities for public ranking: The committee narrowed the public prioritization exercise to a short list of topics to appear on the breakout ranking sheet: quality affordable housing, workforce opportunities and jobs, independent oversight/monitoring, school funding, and ensuring community benefit from pilots. Committee members said the back of the breakout sheet will include concise rationales so facilitators can explain each option during the exercise.

Discussion highlights and clarifications - The county trustee explained the legal and accounting distinction between taxes and pilot payments: pilot payments are collected under contract, not as property taxes, and are allocated by the county as it chooses; enforcement of unpaid pilot payments requires breach-of-contract actions rather than tax remedies.

- On scope and data, resident commenter Joe Kent urged the committee to include city-level abatements in any public figures, saying earlier totals omitted municipal abatements; Kent said a full review of pilot agreements is expensive and may exceed the committee's resources, adding, "Compliance is another extra expense. I don't believe it's gonna happen either."

- The committee acknowledged inconsistent terminology in earlier materials and asked the County Attorney's office (Lisa Overall) to provide a short summary of the state statutes that authorize pilots so the presentation can list the legal sources without overwhelming lay participants. Overall said she would review the request.

- Data and transparency: members flagged missing or incomplete data. The committee noted that past outreach events reached hundreds (one member said about 500 attendees at a public MIC A meeting) and that e-mail lists were used to distribute materials (a staff member said more than 5,000 contacts had been emailed and one mailer list itemized 2,002 addresses). Trustee Newman estimated a lost revenue figure in the tens of millions: "we would have $43,000,000 more than we have, at least," she said when discussing how pilot payments affect county revenue.

Who said what (selected quotes) - "They pay no tax at all. There is no property tax. They instead pay a contractual pilot payment," Regine Newman, County Trustee. - "Compliance is another extra expense. I don't believe it's gonna happen either," Joe Kent, resident and public commenter. - "We could just make up numbers that illustrate the point," Austin (Dr.) Harrison, committee member, urging a simple before-and-after example for the presentation. - "I think the first meeting should really be the ground 0 approach," Rashida Jones, committee member, on designing the forum for residents with little prior knowledge.

Next steps and logistics - Janice Banks will circulate a revised slide deck (requested in PPTX) for sign-off, and staff will update the breakout facilitation guide with the case study and short rationales for ranked priorities. - Rashida Jones will help integrate an interactive poll if Wi-Fi and logistics permit; a low-tech paper-backup will be used for attendees without smartphones. - The committee confirmed the community meeting for Oct. 11 (Saturday) with setup requested by 10 a.m.; the committee's next regular meeting will be Oct. 16, with extended time to review community feedback.

Background: The ad hoc committee is reviewing how Shelby County uses pilot agreements (payments in lieu of taxes) and is preparing community outreach and policy recommendations. Committee members repeatedly cited a lack of centralized oversight and called for clearer public materials and a process to monitor whether pilot agreements produce the community benefits they promise.

Ending note: Committee leaders said materials will be posted to the trustee's website and that printed reports will be available at the community meeting; they asked all presenters and volunteers to arrive early to set up breakout tables and materials.