PARTY STARTED: The Memphis City Council today will discuss a resolution that would set a certified tax rate for 2009. Shown are council members Shea Flinn and Bill Morrison. -- PHOTO BY BILL DRIES

The Memphis City Council today will move closer to setting a new city tax rate, an annual decision that will require extra steps this year because of the recent property reappraisal and a continuing struggle over funding for the city school system.

The council’s budget committee meeting this morning is scheduled to discuss a resolution that would establish a 2009 certified tax rate of about $3.19 per $100 of a property’s assessed value instead of the current $3.25.

But that doesn’t mean city taxpayers will see a 6-cent drop in the tax rate. The resolution involves one of the extra steps the council has to take before the body comes up with a final formula showing what Memphians will pay the taxman this year.

Today’s budget committee meeting will begin at 10:10 a.m. at City Hall, 125 N. Main St. The full council will meet this afternoon beginning at 3:30 p.m. in the council chambers.

Split decision

Because 2009 is a reappraisal year, the council has to identify a certified tax rate before it settles on the final rate. A certified tax rate would bring in the same amount of revenue as the council’s prior year levy of a little more than $370 million, according to city records.

Identifying a certified tax rate theoretically undoes the growth in the tax base that followed this year’s reappraisal. Of the $1.5 billion increase in tax value after the 2009 reappraisal, a little more than $1 billion came from within the city of Memphis.

That means if the current tax rate of $3.25 were left alone, many people would see their tax obligations rise, since there’s more property value to tax this year.

Once this year’s certified rate is set, the council can then add to or take away from it to get the final tax rate. So the certified tax rate represents the starting line for tax rate discussions.

But because of a long-running legal flap over funding for Memphis City Schools, the council this year likely will split the city tax rate into two rates. One would be a relatively small rate intended to raise whatever the council decides to pay MCS.

The other, larger tax rate would cover the rest of the city’s needs.