MEMPHIS, TN -
(WMC-TV) – The union representing Memphis police officers says it wants you to wake up.
In a new ad, the Memphis Police Association claims city leaders are misspending money when it comes to the police department.
Now, they want something done about it.
A commercial that accuses the city of being in a financial crisis began airing this week. The big question is… Do you know where your money is going?
"Wake up Memphis! You need to know the facts. The true facts. Not just rely on what someone tells you," said Memphis Police Association President Michael Williams.
The association is running a new 30-second TV commercial calling out the city for spending money on the wrong things.
The ad, which is entitled "Wake Up Memphis", says the City of Memphis has spent millions of dollars on nonessential programs and has millions in reserve funds.
"We have more money in our reserves than we've ever had. We just gave a tax break to the citizens as far as property taxes," said Williams.
But Williams says the city has threatened to cut funding and resources for emergency services to help balance the budget.
"They did cut the police budget. They gave them some additional money this year, but last year they cut the budget," he said.
Williams also accuses city leaders of misusing taxpayer dollars for business and community redevelopment programs.
"We need to do economic development. That's nice. It's fine. We need to do that. However, I pay my tax dollars for services, not to build other companies," explained Williams.
A statement from the City of Memphis CAO George Little states:
"We've addressed these allegations a number of times; the Commercial Appeal even featured one of them in its Politifact section and deemed it completely 'False.' We think if they would investigate the others, they would deem them likewise."
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