Shelby County ad hoc committee hears competing cases for pilot reform and for preserving housing pilots

A joint working session of the Shelby County Board of Commissioners'ad hoc committee on payments in lieu of taxes (PILOTs) on Oct. 26 pulled together municipal industrial development boards, the Downtown Memphis Commission, the Memphis Health Education and Housing Facility Board and the Memphis Housing Authority to discuss whether the county should pursue reform, carve-outs or a moratorium on PILOT agreements.

The most immediate contention centered on housing pilots administered by the Health, Education and Housing Facility Board (HEHFB). Critics on the committee pressed for stronger transparency, standard public records and clearer compliance monitoring. HEHFB attorneys and housing partners said a moratorium would halt projects that rely on PILOTs to close financing and produce affordable units.

"I don't think there's been any pilot reform across my career," Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris said, stressing that county practice normally respects municipal decisions. Harris said mayors and the commission can set policy parameters for PILOTs, and that he receives notice and sometimes signs an approval letter when a municipality seeks a corresponding county reduction. "The role of the commission, as I see it, would be to set the policy parameters in general for all pilots," Harris said. He added he would be reluctant to act unilaterally to change longstanding processes but said the commission could propose changes.

Representatives of the Memphis HEHFB told the committee their board operates under a different state statute than the…