The Memphis City Council will decide from a long list of projects how to spend a little more than $3 million in tax money set aside for southwest Memphis. But some residents and community advocates say the process that produced the recommendations downplayed their biggest priority: environmental health.
Local lawmakers set aside 25% of the property taxes generated by two of xAI’s data centers. The funds are supposed to benefit the surrounding neighborhoods that have been harmed by years of legacy pollution from nearby industrial facilities.
An advisory board was formed to identify the community’s spending priorities. But their final recommendations, which the City Council recently accepted, were not as specific as some had hoped…