Memphis Sales Tax Increase to Fund Corporate Pre-K Defeated

Despite the fact that the Hyde Family (Autozone) spent hundreds of thousands on a media campaign, and despite the fact that the Memphis Corporate Appeal gave unlimited free space to push this plan, the voters of Memphis voted 60-40 against.

The Memphis sales-tax referendum failed Thursday by an overwhelming margin of 60 percent to 40 percent, or 17,636 votes to 11,659, in the evening’s final unofficial tally.

Only 7 percent of the city’s 417,174 registered voters participated.

The result represents a victory for skeptics of the plan to raise the sales tax to expand preschool training and help reduce the property tax.

“Apparently, if the numbers hold, The margin indicates that the will of the people is that they didn’t want to pay more sales tax for a partial Pre-K program, and I’m delighted by that,” said one of the main opponents of the tax, former school board member Rev. Kenneth Whalum Jr. . . .