Tax breaks drain millions from Shelby County coffers, robbing critical services of the support they need

MLK50: Justice Through Journalism

Factuality

Ownership

Tax breaks drain millions from Shelby County coffers, robbing critical services of the support they need

Photo illustration by Andrea Morales for MLK50 Every year since 2014, Shelby County has given up nearly $41 million in tax revenue that could have been used to fund the county’s crumbling schools or cash-strapped transit agency.   Instead, the money was funneled away from the county’s coffers by several obscure boards empowered to hand out tax breaks without lawmaker approval and with little to no oversight of their activities. Get more stories…