What happened with Penny For Your Parks?
Southaven’s “Penny For Your Parks” restaurant tax died a slow and painful death in the Mississippi House of Representatives late last month, the apparent victim of hard feelings by many legislators toward some members of DeSoto County’s House delegation who were less than receptive to supporting similar taxes in other cities.
The tax, along with a similar motel tax in neighboring Horn Lake, aren’t sincerely dead, to borrow from the coroner in the “Wizard of Oz.” Held on motions to reconsider, the measures could come back for another run. Southaven Mayor Darren Musselwhite and Horn Lake Mayor Allen Latimer were both hopeful that such would be the case. State Sen. David Parker, R-Olive Branch, who authored the bill extending Southaven’s tax, said March 24 he was working to bring the bill back.
But whether or not the taxes ultimately get extended before the legislative session ends April 2, last month’s House action provided an interesting look at how law is made. Or how the sausage gets made, as the expression goes, which is something you might not necessarily want to know.
Special taxes, as they’re called, are common in Mississippi cities. They’re local taxes that benefit local causes and aren’t governed by general law that affects the entire state. Typically, such taxes include a repealer provision, which means the tax dies, or is repealed, after a certain period of time unless it’s extended by legislators. Such extensions are routine, as Southaven thought would be the case with its tax that is used to fund parks and recreation improvements. The roughly $1.9 million generated last year through a 1-cent tax on restaurant bills funded a senior citizens center at Snowden Grove Park and other upgrades there.
What Southaven leaders didn’t anticipate was the rancor that has developed between some of DeSoto County’s House delegation and legislators from other parts of the state who didn’t get the support they’ve traditionally gotten for renewing special taxes in their areas. Several DeSoto House members were elected in 2015, when four moderate Republicans were defeated by newcomers with ultra-conservative leanings on taxes, support for charter schools and such things.
Constituents with a philosophical bent against taxes — even relatively innocuous taxes that come largely from out-oftown patrons, such as the Southaven and Horn Lake taxes — got the ear of those new legislators, who responded by demanding a voter referendum to ratify legislative approval of a tax extension. Southaven added that provision just to get the tax extension measure out of committee and before the full House for a vote last Wednesday.
That’s when the extension ran into a legislative buzz saw. Numerous lawmakers from around the state grilled state Rep. Ashley Henley, R-Southaven, as she presented the bill, with the provision for a June 6 referendum.
One lawmaker prefaced his questions to Henley by saying he had never voted against extending a local tax supported by the area’s legislators — until today. Another lawmaker, giving the impression he would vote against the extension whether it included a referendum provision or not, wondered aloud why another vote was needed when the Southaven tax was approved in 2011 by a 75 percent voter margin.
Henley responded that times change and people change, and she got the sense that most people now wanted a new vote. That led another lawmaker, apparently with an agenda of his own, to ask if he could count on Henley’s support for a new vote on changing the controversial state flag, even though voters overwhelmingly supported keeping the current flag with its Confederate battle emblem during an earlier vote.
In the end, only four of 107 legislators voted to extend Southaven’s tax and hold a referendum to confirm it.
Henley said after the vote she would never give in to bullying or intimidation to support a tax without voters having a voice. And local leaders who supported the taxes were left to wonder how to generate revenue with minimal impact on their constituencies if getting it from people who aren’t even taxpayers of their cities isn’t palatable.
“The only time anybody who lives in Horn Lake pays our tax is if they have to stay in a motel because of a house fire, or something like that,” Latimer mused. “The (tax) money is going to come from somewhere.”
Stay tuned to see if the taxes die a final death this week and, if so, how Southaven and Horn Lake leaders deal with the loss of revenue.
Musselwhite took a break from fretting over what lawmakers in Jackson were doing to hold a splashy re-election fundraiser luncheon at Landers Center. In conjunction with the fundraiser, Mussewhite gave his State of the City address and used it to declare an end to the Greg Davis era.
Musselwhite never mentioned the former mayor by name, but he didn’t tiptoe around the problems facing the city after Davis left amid corruption charges that resulted in the state auditor ordering Davis to repay more than $170,000 for expenses deemed inappropriate. Davis also faces a retrial in June on felony fraud and embezzlement charges after an earlier conviction was overturned.
“It’s no secret that in 2012, the city had some problems,” Musselwhite said. “Our number one goal was to restore trust and integrity back to the city of Southaven, and I’m proud to tell you today that we’ve brought our good reputation back. The trust is back, and the money is right.”
Keep in mind, this was a campaign fundraiser. Even more than during a typical State of the City address, the incumbent had every reason to paint a rosy picture. Still, there’s no denying that much has been done to correct problems left behind by Davis’ administration.
Musselwhite’s opponents in the May 2 GOP primary, Tommy A. Henley and James Weifenbach, may have their own views on whether Musselwhite has done enough. Whether voters think so is what really matters, and we’ll have the answer to that on May 2 and in the general election (in which the Republican nominee will have no opposition) on June 6 — just days before Davis goes back on trial in Grenada.
Vivian Berryhill
Finally, we direct you to Editorial Page Editor Jerome Wright’s tribute to Vivian N. Berryhill, an Olive Branch resident whose volunteer spirit made her a community asset who will be missed.
Berryhill, 63, died recently after a battle with cancer.
Take time to read Wright’s column in the March 26 newspaper if you didn’t have the pleasure of knowing Berryhill.
time unless it’s extended by legislators.