For two decades, Memphis and Shelby County have offered corporations substantial tax incentives under the promise of economic development, job creation and long-term prosperity. But after billions in announced investments and hundreds of millions in property tax abatements, we must ask a fundamental question.
Have these incentives produced lasting prosperity for the families and neighborhoods that need it most?
According to the Economic Development Growth Engine (EDGE) public database, 128 PILOT projects have been approved, with approximately $938.3 million in reported tax abatements and nearly 50,000 jobs associated with its project scorecard. These cumulative figures do not represent every incentive granted by every local authority over the past
20 years.
An independent analysis of Shelby County PILOT records estimated approximately $81.8 million in combined county and municipal property tax abatements for 2023 alone.
These figures deserve serious public examination, not automatic condemnation or unquestioning approval.
How to measure success
Economic development must be measured by what communities gain and sustain.
Consider Electrolux, which announced in 2019 that it would close its Memphis manufacturing plant, affecting approximately 530 employees. The company had received millions in property tax incentives. Although reporting indicated that Electrolux had satisfied its PILOT performance requirements, its departure raised an important question.
What happens to workers and neighborhoods when publicly supported employers leave?
A corporate closure does not end at the factory gate.
When hundreds of workers lose their jobs, household income disappears. Mortgage payments become more difficult. Families confront financial instability, potential foreclosure, strained marriages and uncertain futures. Local businesses lose customers, churches lose financial support, and neighborhood economies suffer.
These consequences can extend across generations.
Communities in South Memphis, North Memphis, Whitehaven and other economically vulnerable neighborhoods deserve particular attention. Research has documented serious employment, housing and educational challenges in portions of these communities.
South Memphis ZIP code 38106, for example, had unemployment exceeding 20% in a published analysis of 2022 data.
We must be careful not to claim that PILOT-related job losses alone caused these conditions.
Economic Instability
Nevertheless, economic instability is a legitimate concern when examining family well-being, neighborhood crime, school attendance and educational achievement.
The connection between economic opportunity and educational outcomes deserves greater examination.
When parents struggle to maintain employment and housing, children may experience additional stress, instability and disruptions to learning. We should investigate whether neighborhoods experiencing major employment losses also experienced increases in foreclosures, family displacement, school absenteeism, dropout rates and violent crime.
That requires evidence, not assumptions.
For more than 40 years, my work in human rights, community development, education and public safety has reinforced one principle.
Sustainable communities require sustainable economic opportunities.
We are calling upon, EDGE , the Shelby County Trustee, our elected officials, and independent researchers to collaborate on a comprehensive, transparent, and data-driven 20-year review of PILOT agreements and corporate tax incentives.
This independent accountability initiative, entitled “The Kyles Memo,” will examine the total value of tax incentives awarded, corporate compliance with promised job creation and retention, business closures, lost employment opportunities, and the long-term economic and social consequences for Memphis and Shelby County communities.
The fundamental question is simple. Have these substantial public investments delivered measurable and sustainable returns for the taxpayers, working families, and neighborhoods they were intended to benefit?
Economic development must be measured not merely by the incentives we award, but by the opportunities we create, the communities we strengthen, and the promises we keep.
That study should identify every company receiving incentives, the actual taxes abated, jobs promised and delivered, businesses that closed or relocated, and employment lost. It should also examine where affected workers lived and compare neighborhood trends in foreclosure, divorce, crime, graduation and school dropout rates.
Companies that fulfill their commitments should receive appropriate recognition. Those that fail should face the accountability provisions established in their agreements.
Future incentives should incorporate stronger transparency, enforceable job-retention provisions, meaningful local hiring commitments and measurable neighborhood benefits.
Memphis cannot afford economic development policies that celebrate corporate investment while overlooking the long-term economic security of working families.
Over the past two decades, Memphis & Shelby County has committed what may amount to nearly $1 billion in corporate tax abatements, the People’s money. Imagine what even a portion of those resources could have accomplished had they been strategically invested in the people and neighborhoods of Memphis.
We could have resurfaced major roadways, dramatically reduced the potholes that plague our streets, established meaningful summer employment programs for thousands of young people, expanded workforce development and vocational training opportunities, and strengthened public safety initiatives in communities most affected by poverty, unemployment, and violent crime.
Economic development should never be measured solely by what we give corporations, but by what those investments return to the people. When public resources are committed to private enterprise, there must be measurable accountability, sustainable job creation, and tangible improvements in the quality of life for Memphis families.
The question we must ask our elected officials is simple. After twenty years of corporate incentives, are the people of Memphis better off, and where is the return on our investment, quite frankly put, "show me the money."
Dr. Joseph B. Kyles is a theologian, behavioral scientist, and human rights advocate working at the intersection of faith, public policy, and economic justice. He is president of the Rainbow Push Coalition Memphis.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Show me the money: Are tax incentives working in Memphis | Opinion
