MEMPHIS, TN (abc24.com) - The big guns came out Monday on both sides of the Shelby County sales tax referendum.
Are you willing to pay more for the food you eat? The clothes you wear? The products you buy?
That's the question in Tuesday's election when voters decide whether to raise sales taxes in Shelby County by a half-a-cent.
"It is going to be definitely hard on people, but sometimes you have to do what you have to do," said Steve Griggs as he cut hair at the Madison Avenue Salon.
"If it is going towards a good thing, of course I'm for it, if it is going to hurt a lot of people even more, we should maybe do something else, man," Griggs said.
It is estimated the sales tax increase will raise approximately $62 million.
According to state law, half of that, around $31 million, must go to fund education. Memphis Mayor A C Wharton has pressed for some reassurances the money will go to fund a universal Pre-Kindergarten, but those promises never materialized.
"Everyone loves the Pre-K so the idea everyone is going to love this thing this much and then not spend the money on it, defies logic and common sense," said Memphis City Council member Shea Flinn.
"We are going counter to all good fiscal decision making procedures here," said Shelby County Mayor Mark Luttrell.
Mayor Luttrell says now is not the time for a tax increase, not with so much more work to be done in shaping a Unified School District.
"Asking people to give you more tax money with no clear picture of how that money is going to be spent is poor budget management," Luttrell said.
Back at the Salon, Griggs worries about what higher taxes could mean for his business.
"I do need them to be able to have money for them to come in and spend with me," he said.
