Vote Tuesday for the Local Option Sales Tax

Jackson Mayor Chokwe Lumumba came into office with an eye on addressing some of Jackson’s biggest, and longest-standing, problems.

He wanted, in his first year, to address the massive cost of the Environmental Protection Agency’s consent decree and fix the sewer system. He also wanted to replace Jackson’s aging water distribution system and repave a large percentage of the city’s streets.

He knew it would take more funds than the city currently had to accomplish these goals, so he took a proactive, albeit regressive, approach to getting it. He raised the water and sewer rate on every residence and business in Jackson, and now we have before us a ballot for a local option, 1-percent sales tax.

The city can sure use the estimated $15 million that 1 percent would generate. If you look at the city streets as a whole, $15 million doesn’t sound like a lot, but here’s what most people don’t get: with the extra yearly funds guaranteed through 2032, that’s an additional $300 million the city can borrow against and fix the streets and water system now.

Likewise, when Lumumba sends the city’s lobbyists to the Legislature, it would be nice for them to be able to point to the tough decisions we are making to address our own problems before asking for help from the state.

All that said, the local option is controversial for two reasons. First, this is a regressive tax—in terms of individual income and wealth, it imposes a greater burden (relative to resources) on the poor than on the rich—there is an inverse relationship between the tax rate and the taxpayer’s ability to pay.

Second, a 10-person commission oversees the distribution of the fund, and potentially, some of those members may not be Jackson residents. It’s in the bill that the mayor will appoint three members, the local chamber of commerce (in our case, the Greater Jackson Chamber Partnership) will appoint four members, and the governor, lieutenant governor and state speaker of the House of Representatives will all appoint one member.

Lumumba has said he has worked out a deal with the Greater Jackson Chamber Partnership where he would select their candidates for the commission, giving the city the power to appoint the majority of the commission, but details on such a deal have not been made public—and the chamber denies it happened. Mayoral candidate Lumumba scoffed at such a compromise in a May endorsement interview at the JFP offices.

“(The deal) may be second best, but still it begs the question. The state constitution and laws, for good reason, put the power to determine the budget, and how it’s spent, with the city council. (By having a commission) You’d be depriving them of the opportunity to make decisions over that money,” Lumumba said. “That’s not done in most places in the state, and it shouldn’t be done in Jackson.”

We agreed with him then, and we agree with him now.

But have you driven these streets lately? Some are impassible, and some will simply require a fresh front-end alignment after traveling on them. The city’s drainage runs on a seemingly ancient creek system, and a large portion of the city’s pipes are more than 100 years old.

Jackson’s infrastructure woes have plagued the city for decades, and it’s about time somebody stepped up with a solution.

For these reasons and others, the Jackson Free Press encourages you to vote “yes” on the local-option sales tax this Tuesday. Then, we must be vigilant about ensuring that Jackson controls where that money goes.

Read the JFP’s past stories on the local-option sales tax at jfp.ms/salestax.