Recent Comments
Re: “Allegiant Brings Low-Cost Air Service to Memphis”
Flights to all 3 destinations look to be only on Fridays and Mondays. Which is a good start, but not ideal for cruisers, as you'll likely have to spend a night on at least one end of the cruise.
Still, great start!
Re: “Allegiant Brings Low-Cost Air Service to Memphis”
As long as travelers watch their baggage plans, Allegiant is going to be a great addition to MEM. Just don't get caught without prepaid luggage and measure carefully and take advantage of their aggressive prices!
Re: “Memphis' Battle Over Employee Benefits”
To clarify on some of the figures mentioned:
"Active employees with families will see rates go up $224 to $286 a month, resulting in monthly payments that will range from $1,155 to $1,476."
If I'm doing the math right, this suggests that the "average" employee earning $50,000 a year is _currently_ paying $13,860 in health care premiums for their family? So probably a third of after tax income? Is this correct? Or are these figures the TOTAL cost of coverage for the city?
While we're at it, has anyone seen a cost-savings breakdown of the various changes that adds up to the supposed $23 million next year? As in $X million from the rate raises, $ Y million from cutting the subsidy for retirees, $Z million for forcing spouses off the city plan, etc?
Re: “Tennessee Court Becomes First to Rule in Favor of a Gay Marriage Ban”
So, if at least one member of a prospective married couple can't biologically have children (disease, age, vasectomy, etc) then their marriage isn't valid? Or the State can't sanction it?
Nice logic, buddy. Hope you are a better judge on other cases.
I'm just going to sigh a couple more times and then get on with my life.
Re: “Uber and Lyft to Receive Cease-and-Desist From City”
How much do the existing taxi companies actually pay in taxes & fees to the City? And the airport?
If the cab companies were really wanting to fend off competitors, how about making possible to actually rate & blacklist some of the ridiculously terrible drivers here in Memphis? There are good ones, but at night especially, the proportion of dangerous and/or fraudulent drivers to good ones seems past the tipping point.
Better taxi services (from whoever) would go a long way to improve tourist experiences and general road safety.
Re: “Well-Oiled”
I've never used them for cooking, but flavored oil/vinegar makes AMAZING salad dressing! Healthy, incredibly tasty stuff... glad to see this concept come to Memphis. Here's hoping these brave business people succeed in developing a clientele!
Collections
THIS WEEK'S ISSUE
SPECIAL ISSUES
Re: “Midtown Market Project Gets $10.5 Million Tax Deal”
Can someone explain the seemingly contradictory math in this article to me?
"The PILOT would shield Belz Enterprises and Harbour Retail Partners [Belz HRP Partners] from paying $10.5 million in city and county taxes over the 15-year period of the deal. But the developers said the project would yield about $35 million in new taxes over those years, taxes that would otherwise not be there at all."
$35M over 15 years sounds like $2.3M in taxes annually on average.
then:
"The project would yield $250,000 in annual taxes to the city and county. Two of the three properties in the three-acre site are not yielding taxes at all. Back taxes of about $1.1 million on those properties will also be paid"
So, how did we get from $2.3M per year to $250k per year?
I know developer and government projections are always... interesting when it comes to math, and especially when it comes to seeking tax breaks, but that's why we look to the fine journalists here and elsewhere to clarify and cut through the muck.