Better MS Report

Governor intensifies lobbying efforts Sunday in favor of his lengthy and detrimental funding cuts From the Better Mississippi Report JACKSON (Sunday, March 27, 2011) – Gov. Haley Barbour was at it again today, lobbying hard in favor of funding cuts that would be detrimental to public education, mental health, homestead exemption and other areas. Not [...]

The Clarion-Ledger: Sales tax collections are up in the city of Jackson, Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. said in presenting a first-quarter budget report that shows the city more than $400,000 ahead of expected revenue five months into the fiscal year. Sales tax collections are $413,174, or 3.32 percent, ahead of a budget that Johnson described [...]

Rep. Diane Peranich newspaper column for Sunday, Feb. 20, 2011 By DIANE PERANICH JACKSON (Sunday, Feb. 20, 2011) – As we approach the one-year anniversary of the BP Gulf oil spill, our Coast businesses, hospitality industry and seafood industry hope and pray for a better tourism season this year. Even though economists and many Coast [...]

The Clarion-Ledger: Within the next two months, state legislators will approve or reject a bill that Jackson leaders say is critical to repairing the city’s crumbling infrastructure. The local tax option is the lone significant request from the city in this legislative session, and would allow Jackson residents to vote on a 1-cent sales tax [...]

Charlie Mitchell, syndicated columnist: State Rep. Bobby Moak, D-Bogue Chitto, says it is not going to happen. He chairs the House Gaming Committee, so that’s that. Owners of casinos licensed by Mississippi are probably antsy nonetheless. “It” is a tax increase. Normally, the t-word is not spoken in an election year, but gambling (along with [...]

The Clarion-Ledger: During an election year, voters hear a lot of political rhetoric about how state legislators are “looking out for the people.” But when it comes to Mississippi casino gaming laws and particularly the state’s gaming tax rates, it’s clear that both the law and the lawmakers are looking out for the casino industry. [...]

The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal: The executive director of the Gaming Commission, which regulates the state’s casinos, said Monday that it’s unfair to compare the industry’s tax rate in Mississippi to that of other states. Larry Gregory, testifying during a hearing called by Rep. George Flaggs, D-Vicksburg, said the states with higher tax rates restrict [...]

Hattiesburg American: Gains in sales tax revenue continued for most Pine Belt municipalities. Some of the biggest boosts were in Ellisville’s and Laurel’s sales tax collections for November – which are a reflection of October sales – compared to the same time last year. According to the Mississippi Department of Revenue, consumer spending in Ellisville [...]

The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal: Collecting garbage is easy; collecting fees, not so much. A state law requiring communities to pick up residential trash, regardless of customers’ ability to pay, has left Lee County more than $1 million in the hole. Since the county began its own rubbish-collection service in 1994, nearly 8,500 customers have [...]

From The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal: Preliminary discussion of possible increases in Mississippi’s fourth-lowest-in-the-nation casino gambling tax needs to move toward serious consideration, a process that probably will require several years before legislation could pass and not face a promised gubernatorial veto. Mississippi’s 12 percent casino gambling rate, which applies only to private-sector casinos and [...]