MEMPHIS, TN -
(WMC-TV) - A tax fight more than a decade in the making, pits newly annexed Cordova residents against the city of Memphis. And this "battle royale" is heading to court.
Those outraged residents filed a lawsuit, demanding answers. They claim the city of Memphis' attempt to collect property taxes from them for 2012 are illegal.
The newly annexed residents live in a section of town that is bordered by Germantown, Houston Levee, and Macon Roads. It includes about 5,000 people.
The controversy started when residents say they were annexed into Memphis without even knowing it. They claim they got a letter in the mail four days after the annexation happened.
Now they are saying it is illegal for Memphis to collect any taxes for the year 2012. They claim it is illegal because they were not Memphis citizens as of January 1.
But city officials say the newly annexed residents are paying for the current fiscal year, which began July 1. That is the same day the annexation became official, and runs through June 20, 2013.
The commercial appeal reports Attorney Richard Winchester Junior filed the suit in Chancery Court on behalf of the owners of about 1,700 real estate properties in the south Cordova area.
We could get a comment today from City Council attorney Allan Wade who confirms the lawsuit, but says he has not read over it.
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