Halbert talks budget, facility problems and corrective action plan with County Commission

A day after filing a motion to dismiss ouster proceedings currently pending against her, Shelby County Clerk Wanda Halbert on Wednesday spoke to the Shelby County Board of Commissioners about her budget, the facilities her office operates out of and the steps being taken with her office's corrective action plan.

Though not talking in detail about the steps her office is taking to address concerns named by Tennessee Comptroller Jason Mumpower after an audit of the clerk's office, motor vehicle registration administrator Bennie Smith said there have been problems separating the $25 wheel tax increase — passed in 2023 — from the previous $50 wheel tax.

"There are so many different transactions that the clerk's office performs that it's just not technologically possible for a system to be created," Smith told the commission Wednesday. "There's not a technological way that you can go and add Shelby County twice."

Adding Shelby County twice into the fee system, Smith said, was the best avenue for separating the old wheel tax amount from the increase in the way suggested in the comptroller's report. Shelby County Trustee Regina Newman previously said she had provided instructions to the clerk's office for separating those fees.

Other parts of the discussion were focused on issues Halbert had previously talked about, including the size of each of the clerk's office locations, the high staffing turnover that she attributed to low pay and outdated software used to track the office's financials.

More: Everything you need to know about the possible ouster of Shelby County Clerk Wanda Halbert

By June 3, Halbert said the clerk's office will have 83% of its staffing filled.

"A lot of people think that we're just sitting on our laurels and not hiring," Halbert told a group of media after speaking with the commission Wednesday. "It's not easy, bringing the employees in. Because of all the rhetoric that has been created, some of the things they have to endure — it's uncomfortable for me and I've had to intervene and get involved... These employees are doing a lot for very little."

Halbert, County Commission talk about budget moving forward

Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris' proposed budget projected $13 million in revenues for the clerk's office for the upcoming fiscal year. The amount is $500,000 more than was budgeted in the 2024 fiscal year, but about $1.3 million less than the actual revenues in 2023.

In past comments, Halbert had asserted that her office was regularly underfunded. During Wednesday's budget committee, it was not clear whether Halbert was asking for more money to be allocated for the clerk's office. A presentation, titled "2025 Budget Proposal" did not include any amendment requests of Harris' proposed budget.

Prior to Halbert speaking to the county commission, Harris' office sent out a press release to refute claims that the clerk's office was underfunded. Instead, Harris said the county "invests too much, not too little" in the clerk's office. Attached to the release were copies of fiscal year expenditures from 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 that compared the budgeted expenses for the clerk's office with how much was actually spent.

"During a press conference on May 14, 2024, Shelby County Clerk Wanda Halbert stated erroneously, 'We have a duty to do, but we have to have the resources to perform those duties,'" Harris wrote in an emailed press release. "However, over the last four years the Clerk has had more resources than she could spend. Financial reports show the Clerk’s Office didn’t spend $855,245 in 2020, $928,159 in 2021, $1,445,183 in 2022, and $2,288,653 in 2023 totaling just over $5.5 million."

About a week and a half ago, Hamilton County District Attorney Coty Wamp filed a petition to oust Halbert from office, citing incorrect financial reporting, strains on auto dealers in the county, comptroller deficiencies and Halbert's no-show to the May 1 Shelby County Commission meeting where she was supposed to present her corrective action plan as reasons for the ouster petition.

Filed jointly with the ouster petition was a request to have Halbert suspended from office while the proceedings are underway. No date has been set for hearing the motion to suspend Halbert, nor her motion to dismiss the ouster attempt.

The Commercial Appeal reporter Brooke Muckerman contributed to this report.

Lucas Finton is a criminal justice reporter with The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached at [email protected], or (901)208-3922, and followed on X, formerly known as Twitter, @LucasFinton.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Shelby County Clerk Wanda Halbert outlines corrective action plan