2 percent tax redux

by Jogee Lenarduzzi
StarkvilleNow correspondent

Tuesday night, the BOA again agreed to give a portion of the 2 percent food and beverage tax to Mississippi State University.

This money helps fund events and programs that enhance student life. Past events that have benefited from this fund are the lyceum series, Down in the District, Bulldog Bash, Main Street Music Festival and several others.

Mayor Dan Camp stated that because the university receives funds from the city, they should invest the majority of those funds into things that bring money back to the city. He noted that Down in the District and Main Street Music Festival have been combined and moved from the city to campus.

Camp and Roy Perkins both thought this took away valuable profits for Starkville businesses.

Richard Corey, made the motion to approve the fund, and Matt Cox seconded. P.C. “Mac” McLaurin and Sumner Davis had to leave the meeting early, so neither voted on this tax. Everyone else voted in favor, although Perkins did so with reluctance.

Before the vote, Bill Kibler, MSU Vice President for Student Affairs, told the board it was not his decision where the money would be spent. He said Braxton Combs, MSU Student Association president who was present at the hearing, would pass these remarks on to student decision makers on campus.

“There are 17,000 residents of MSU who spend money in Starkville,” Kibler said.

Even if the money given to MSU wasn’t spent inside the Starkville limits, those students brought in an abundance of tax money.

There was a surplus of 2 percent tax funds from last year, and Kibler said this money will be used to pay for the night shuttle route, which runs from campus to many restaurants and bars in Starkville. These funds will allow the night route to run earlier in the evening and later into the night and on a more regular schedule.

The BOA held another public hearing to discuss the city’s false alarm ordinance. This ordinance states that if a police officer is called to investigate a business and the alarm is false, the building receives a warning. After the third warning, a business must pay a fine.

Several people at the hearing said the fine is too high. Oktibbeha County Humane Society president Diane Wall said the Humane Society’s alarm system has gone off several times and they have been fined. There were actually intruders, she said, but when officers arrived, the intruders were gone. Once a box of puppies was left, and another time someone was trying to steel pit bull puppies.

Wall said that by fining people so highly for calling the police, it discourages people from reaching out for the help they may really need. Others in the audience agreed, as did several of the alderman.

Cox said the ordinance was intended to stop big companies from not fixing malfunctioning alarm systems which waste police time.
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We’re ensnaring private homeowners … which we’ll try to improve,” Cox said.

He suggested that those with ideas of how to fix the issues with the ordinance present their thoughts again, so that alderman can help make adjustments.

The BOA was approached about partnering with a nonprofit organization that pays adults older than 55 to train in city jobs. The city would receive free work, and the worker would get much needed hands on training that would allow them to succeed in securing a job in the future.

To many alderman it seemed like a win-win situation, and they wanted to hear more about what they had to do to become active in the program.

The aldermen spent a little more than three hours covering other issues such as proposed planning and zoning changes and requests from the fire department, electric company and city personnel. They passed all zoning and planning changes recommended by the Planning and Zoning Commission.