Aldermen look over agenda during Friday work session
In preparations for this coming Tuesday's recess meeting, the Starkville Board of Aldermen held a Friday work session to look over agenda items.
The first item on
Tuesday's agenda will be the first public hearing to amend the city's unified development code for right-ofway protection and damage to public infrastructure. But the first item that there was some discussion over during the work session was in the board business section of the agenda, which is the consideration of calling for public hearings to adopt an ordinance for tax abatements for specific businesses located in the central business district or in historic districts.
Ward 2 Alderman Sandra Sistrunk drafted the ordinance for the board to consider, and she was given the floor to brief them on the matter.
“There are two state statutes that allow the city to provide tax abatements if you follow a particular process and this is the first step to having that process in place here in Starkville,” said Sistrunk. “They're used in several places around the state already, but this is another economic development tool that we can offer. Now it's restricted in where it can be and what it's used for. But that's laid out in the draft ordinance.”
If the board does go forward with the tax abatement, Sistrunk says the important thing is to not just put the ordinance in place but also develop a policy and guidelines for what kind of projects the city is willing to do a tax abatement for.
“A $1 million dollar commercial project will generate for the City of Starkville less than $5,000 in taxes. That's not going to move the needle much on a lot of projects,” said Sistrunk. “But a $10 million project with $50,000 might make a difference, particularly when you're looking at it over seven or ten years.”
If the board should go with a tax abatement, one of the things the board would have to do is define Starkville's central business district.
The Starkville Board of Aldermen will meet for the recess meeting on Tuesday, March 21 at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall. The agenda can be viewed online on the city's website at www.cityofstarkville.org.