STARKVILLE — The vice president of the Oktibbeha County Board of Supervisors said residents will support tax increases for public projects they can have input on.
Orlando Trainer shared a plan Tuesday that focused efforts on economic development, road work and community recreation. He said a project that encompasses all three facets would be the most reasonable way to issue bonds.
Trainer said most people understand tax increases “have become a way of life” to get major projects done.
“It would give the county a lot of flexibility in potential growth,” he said. “Bond pursuits are better at the beginning of the term, as it gives the board some time to work through the pros, the cons and the setbacks. At the same time, it ensures you have enough public involvement.”
Trainer will report to the board in the coming months with a more detailed plan. However, Board President Marvell Howard said he is reluctant to raise taxes.
“I think there was some apprehension about how we’d fund those projects,” Howard said, “though everyone agrees we should be ambitious. I’m all for looking at ways to improve the county, but with the economy the way it is and jobs being scarce, I don’t feel comfortable asking people to raise their taxes.
“At this point, people have been taxed to the max.”
Residents are paying off two bonds — the county road bond from 2001 and the $27.5 million hospital bond that passed in 2008.
The board didn’t raise property taxes for the 2012 budget but did in 2011.
For an owner of a $100,000 home in the county, the increase equaled an extra $44.80 per year. The previous total tax on the home was $764.90. The increase took it to $809.70.
Trainer said the county can operate under three perspectives: keep things the way they are, use current cash flow to fund projects or increase taxes for a project people will embrace.
Trainer said residents are likely to back a bond issue that services the roads in the county’s 457 square miles.
“A lot of people are moving in and a lot of roads are still dirt,” he said. “There’s quite a bit of homes being built in the county. You need to have roadways for those long-term investments.
“It’s a good time to be in the county,” Trainer added, “but at the same time our leadership is going to have to start tackling more issues and really make a difference.”
In other business, the board passed a resolution of intent to allow Cotton Mill Marketplace developers to construct an $80 million conference center and hotel on Russell Street without paying up to 95 percent of ad valorem taxes.
Known as tax increment financing, developers can use the money they’d pay in ad valorem taxes to help with construction costs. Municipalities often agree to waive a percentage of taxes if the construction will create jobs or provide substantial ad valorem taxes in the future.
Cotton Mill developers have been mum on the project, which has started and stopped numerous times in the past four years due to financing difficulties.
Howard said a public hearing on waiving the ad valorem tax for Cotton Mill will be March 5 at 10 a.m. He said he is hopeful developers will be on hand to provide details of the project.
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