As late as Saturday, Lowndes County Board of Supervisors President Harry Sanders said he intended to urge fellow supervisors during Monday’s meeting to stick with their February resolution calling for the floor to be removed from the county’s 2-percent restaurant sales tax.
But when the board opened its meeting Monday, Sanders amended the agenda, removing his name from an item described as “CVB” and saying District 2 Supervisor Bill Brigham would speak on the topic instead.
When the agenda item came up, Brigham read a prepared statement.
“For the good of citizens of Columbus and Lowndes County, as a step of good faith toward having unity in our community, I move that we go along with the $100,000 floor,” Brigham said.
The current sales tax, which requires any restaurant with gross annual food sales of at least $325,000 to collect it, expires June 30. The revenue generated by the tax is the primary funding source of the Columbus-Lowndes Convention and Visitors Bureau, which is adjusting its budget to stay in operations through the end of December.
Reducing or eliminating the $325,000 floor would mean more businesses would have to collect the tax from its customers.
After a brief discussion Monday — Sanders said he supported the resolution only if it applied to a possible special legislative session as an extension of the current tax, and District 4 Supervisor Jeff Smith said the $100,000 floor should remain in any subsequent attempt to pass the tax — and the supervisors voted unanimously in favor of Brigham’s proposal.
The board’s decision came after the April 23 meeting of the CVB Board of Trustees, when the CVB got assurances from both Rep. Jeff Smith (R-Columbus), who had insisted that the $325,000 floor remain in the legislation that died in conference committee in March, and Sen. Chuck Younger (R-Columbus), who had supported the “no floor” legislation outlined in a joint city-county resolution requesting the tax’s renewal. Both legislators said they would support an amended bill calling for a $100,000 floor if the tax were a part of a special session called by Gov. Phil Bryant.
“I’m sure all of you read about the (CVB) meeting,” Brigham said. “They all agreed on the $100,000, so I think it’s best for us to go along with it, too. It’s for the good of the community.”
Sanders said he has not changed his view on the subject.
“I still don’t like the idea of a floor,” Sanders said. “But it was pretty clear by (Monday) that I didn’t have the votes. So I went along with it, but as far as I’m concerned, it’s only if the legislation comes up in a special session. If it goes into the next session in January, I think we should send the same resolution that we sent up this last time — one with no floor.”
What’s next
Rep. Gary Chism (R-Columbus), who is in Jackson receiving treatment for a stroke and another medical issue, sent texts to Sanders, Younger, Rep. Smith and Rep. Kabir Karriem on Monday morning to say he would support legislation with or without a floor as long as it was presented to the voters.
In the last session, five new restaurant or hotel taxes were approved by the Legislature on the condition that voters in those areas approved the measure by 60 percent of the vote before the tax is levied.
“I’d vote for it either way, as long as the voters got to have their say,” Chism said Monday afternoon. “To me, that’s the main thing. Would I support a $100,000 floor? Yes, if that what the voters say they want. But I would also support having a bill with no floor if that’s what they want.”
If the tax comes up as a part of a special session, no referendum would be required because the measure would be considered an extension of the existing tax. With the supervisors’ vote Monday, followed by an expected vote from the Columbus City Council Tuesday to approve a bill with the $100,000 floor, the legislation would go into effect as soon as it was passed.
If no special session is called, any legislation on a new 2-percent tax would require another joint resolution from the city and county on the tax. If approved, voters would go to the polls to determine the fate of the tax before it could be levied.
Under that circumstance, the CVB would go unfunded for the first eight months of 2019.
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].
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