On Monday, the Lowndes County Board of Supervisors will hold a public hearing where they will discuss asking the state legislature to sell the 6,000-acre Black Prairie Wildlife Management Area off Fire Tower Road near Crawford. The land is owned and managed by the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks, so whatever action the supervisors might take has no bearing on the status of the property, which is located near Crawford.
The impetus to return the land to private ownership are claims that the property is underutilized and poorly managed, a characterization those who frequent BPWMA vigorously dispute.
Sen. Chuck Younger (R, Columbus) is adamant that the state needs to sell off the property, saying the MDWFP cannot maintain the roughly 2 million acres it manages now.
There appears to be some general support among the supervisors, but given the response to the public notice announcing Monday’s meeting, it’s likely those in favor of keeping BPWMA open to the public will dominate the discussion. Younger has admitted he isn’t likely to file a bill for the sale of the property in the legislature for lack of support among other legislators.
So not much will come of these discussions where the future of BPWMA is concerned.
Still, this discussion does touch on a relevant subject, one that could have far-reaching consequences for Mississippians in every part of the state.
Bills to eliminate or greatly reduce the state income tax are currently working their way through both chambers of the legislature. The House version is, by far, the more aggressive of the two, phasing out the state income tax altogether, which presently accounts for 34 percent of the state’s revenue. The Senate version would eliminate the lowest current tax bracket. Both plans would raise other taxes to make up for some of the lost revenue, but neither is revenue-neutral. The bottom line is that both plans will leave less money for state agencies which provide the services Mississippians rely on.
Since taking over all three branches of government in 2011, Republicans have been on a tax-cutting spree. The most notable came in 2016 when the legislature eliminated the franchise tax on businesses, wiping out $260 million in annual revenue. The legislature previously eliminated the lowest tax bracket (on the first 3 percent of income) in 2018.
There’s an expression that you get what you pay for.
Mississippians may not like that exchange.
The discussion of BPWMA is not the first time we’ve seen the MDWFP struggle to maintain its property in the face of tax-cut induced shrinking budgets. Several years ago, MDWFP proposed transferring ownership of Lake Lowndes State Park property to the county. Supervisors balked at that, but did agree to manage some of the facilities in an effort to keep the park in decent condition. MDWFP did not have the resources to do that. The same claim is now being made about BPWMA. That should be a warning.
What is happening with MDWFP is happening at many, if not most, state agencies. Public schools, mental health, public safety, the state crime lab, corrections all are struggling to maintain services already. Another massive reduction in state revenue could have a devastating effect.
Remember, when Jack sold the milking cow for a handful of magic beans, all he got out of the deal was an adventure.
It turned out to be a bad deal for Jack and an even worse deal for Jack’s poor old widowed mother: No cow, no milk. Not even an adventure.
The proposals to wipe out or slash the state income tax will be equally bad. We had better hang on to the milking cow. We have adventures enough as it is.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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