The Miss. House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved a bill renewing Starkville’s 2 percent food and beverage tax through 2018 this week.
Lawmakers passed HB 1664 Monday with a 110-3 margin. A Gulf Coast bloc of representatives, including David Baria, D-Bay St. Louis, Casey Eure, R-Biloxi, and Jeffrey Guice, R-Ocean Springs, voted against the matter, while seven others were either absent or did not vote, one voted present and a vacancy was tallied.
Sixty-eight votes were needed for passage, and the bill was referred to the Senate’s Local and Private Committee, from where its counterpart to the House measure, SB 2919, has yet to move.
The House bill, filed by state Reps. Gary Chism, R-Columbus, and Tyrone Ellis, D-Starkville, moves the tax’s repeal date from June 30 to the same date in 2018. The Senate version, filed by state Sen. Gary Jackson, R-French Camp, omits the repeal date outright.
Chism’s and Ellis’ bill is expected to become the primary legislation between the two drafts, as Jackson previously said he filed his own version as a safety net.
HB 1664 includes provisions for a reverse referendum on the tax, provided 1,500 qualified electors challenge the proposal after Starkville issues a resolution of intent continuing the levy. A subsequent paragraph invalidates a challenge, however, if revenues are contractually pledged toward debt service incurred before the law goes into effect.
Lawmakers passed a local and private bill two decades ago allowing Starkville to impose a 2 percent economic development, tourism and convention tax on the sale of prepared food and beverages, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic. Residents would go on to pass the tax in a local referendum.
The Legislature passed a second bill in 2004 that amended the entities receiving distributions and extended the levy through this summer.
Tax receipts were divided between Starkville Parks Commission (40 percent), Mississippi State University student groups (20 percent), the Oktibbeha County Economic Development Authority (15 percent) and the Starkville Convention and Visitors Bureau (15 percent). The remaining 10 percent returns to the city for use toward economic development projects, initiatives and opportunities.
Neither HB 1664, nor SB 2919 attempts to change the current funding breakdown.
Aldermen introduced a resolution last year asking lawmakers to extend the levy through June 20, 2020, but the legislative request was tabled until this year, when the law rolls off the books.
Chism, who represents a portion of Oktibbeha County, previously said he is confident the House measure will pass both chambers and receive the governor’s signature.
He also said lawmakers have no appetite to extend a blanket tax indefinitely.
“We’re not going to remove a repeal date. We always want to come back and revisit bills like this just in case something goes awry,” he said before the House passed the bill.
A new resolution of support for the tax was approved by aldermen last month. It amended the city’s 2014 resolution with language only seeking an extension for an additional term.
In light of the upcoming Parks takeover, the new resolution also gives the city the right to administer the board’s 2 percent allocations. SPC, a board independent of aldermen’s control, will become an advisory group this year as Parks’ day-to-day operations become a function of the city.
Numerous tourism initiatives benefit from the tax, said Greater Starkville Development Partnership CEO Jennifer Gregory, which in turn drive additional sales tax receipts to the city.
“Starkville’s 2 percent tax is critical to the quality of life that we experience in our community. From events, such as Bulldog Bash and Pumpkinpalooza, to efforts in recruiting industry and recreational components within our park system, the money has created an atmosphere that recirculates additional funds back into the city,” she said. “(The tax) is crucial to our community moving forward, and we appreciate our local representation advocating for the renewal of this local funding mechanism.”
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
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