JACKSON - Municipal and county leaders from across Mississippi said Tuesday they will ask the 2004 Legislature to approve a local option sales tax.
At the same time, they called on Mississippians to support candidates who would vote in favor of the tax. Party primaries are Aug. 5.
The Mississippi Optional Sales Tax proposal, known as MOST, would allow residents of cities and counties to vote on imposing the tax, and the tax would have to be approved by a 60 percent margin.
"We're just asking first of all for our citizens to quiz those people running for office," said Ridgeland Mayor Gene McGee. "Get their position. If they're not supporting MOST, change to a candidate who does. Second of all, encourage those who are already in office to support MOST too."
McGee said at a news conference at the state Capitol that his city has $100 million in transportation needs, but can only borrow $6 million by issuing bonds.
Steve Long, manager of Saucer's restaurant in downtown Jackson, said the optional tax is a bad idea.
"I don't think people would be very willing to avail themselves to more taxes," Long said.
Mayors and supervisors lobbied the Legislature this year for a 3/4-cent local option sales tax, saying it would be a fair way to raise money for projects like convention centers and sewer lines. The bill died in the Legislature as it has in previous years.
Jack Gregory, executive director of the Mississippi Association of Supervisors, said the local option tax should pass in 2004 because the election will be over.
Senate Municipalities Committee chairman David Jordan, D-Greenwood, who is also a Greenwood City Council member, said he has talked some legislators who "have had a change of heart" and now support the proposal.
Rep. John Mayo, D-Clarksdale, offered to introduce the MOST legislation for the 2004 session.
"I just think it's very valuable to local government to have that as a tool to pay for a time limited project without raising property taxes. In most cases, it would require a vote. I think that's what makes it fair," said Mayo, a former mayor who faces opposition in the Nov. 4 general election.
Tax proposals need three-fifths approval of both houses of the Legislature.
The 3/4-cent tax would apply to items now taxed at 7 percent - everything from groceries to clothing.
It would be collected only for a specific amount of time, as long as it takes to pay for a particular project.
Opponents said the local option tax is unfair because people who don't live in the cities and counties would still have to pay it when they shop and eat there.
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