Mississippi Speaker of the House Phillip Gunn issued the following statement.
MS House of Representatives Passes Additional Road and Bridge Funding Legislation
Jackson, MS— Today, the Mississippi House of Representatives passed an additional measure
that will dedicate a new annual income stream to cities and counties for road and bridge maintenance.
House
Bill 722 will create a new diversion of state use-tax collections,
directing funds back to the cities and the counties to be used for road
and bridge maintenance.
This move is a redirection of existing dollars.
House Bill 722 passed by a bipartisan vote of 118-0.
“This
is one of the best things we’ve done for local government,” said
Speaker of the House Philip Gunn. “Our efforts will put money back in
the hands of the local people.
This increases the diversions back to cities and counties, which is
something our mayors and supervisors have been requesting for years.”
Use-tax
is gathered from sales tax collected on any out-of-state purchases,
including those made online. Approximately $310 million was collected
last year. The new diversion
will divert 35 percent of use tax collections, which is approximately
$108 million by today’s estimates. The diversion would be broken down as
follows to be used toward road and bridge repair:
·
15
percent of all use tax collections (approximately $46.5 million by
today’s estimates) of use tax collected will to go cities, dispersed in
proportion with their current sales
tax diversion
·
15
percent of all use tax collections (approximately $46.5 million by
today’s estimates) of use tax will go to counties, dispersed according
to their current state aid road formula.
·
5
percent of all use tax collections (approximately $15.5 million by
today’s estimates) will fund an annual grant program administered
through Mississippi Development Authority where
cities and counties can request up to $1.5 million additional funding
per road and bridge project.
13 comments:
Hmmm - more state-perpetrated money laundering. I wonder what kind of vig the state will take to administer the transfers and who will audit the distribution and use of the funds.
I seem to remember that federal funding (READ: your money laundered by the the federal government) intended for very specific programs at DPS and homeland security was used for another - can you hear me Rusty Barnes?
DOA, Tater ain't having it or we must be getting the Lottery.
Bring on the Lottery, I'm tired of sending numbers to my kids in Tennessee to purchase a ticket.
This will help the education system in Mississippi---YEA, THAT RIGHT.
I can wait to hear all the things that the Lottery will improve.
POLITICAL BULL SHIT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Funding for Roads is Political BS
Like the feds sending money back to Mississippi for Medicaid?
If you have a 19 year old junkie living in your house and you tell him you're going to stop feeding him and buying his clothes but you'll instead give him $300 a month for food and clothing.....what the hell do you think he's going to do with the money?
He'll continue to rifle through your refrigerator, your dresser and your underwear drawer.
This is the best thing I have seen our legislators do in years. This funding is mandated to be spent on roads and bridges, not junk like museums and shopping malls. Finally spending my tax dollars on something useful and helpful for businesses!!! Thank you speaker gunn and all house members.
This is actually one situation where the need is real. People are tired of these raggedy roads and bridges and paying more for vehicle maintenance. The House of Representatives actually did something good. (Can’t believe I said that). I also find it funny that there was a concern about how to offset a $108 million hole, when NO ONE seems to care about this $415 million tax cut hole that just went into effect. At least with infrastructure, we can get a real return on our tax dollar investment, and not some bogus story of improving my community with a ridiculously huge tax cut.
Great measure by the Ms House, just hope the Ms Senate will follow suit. Good roads and transportation is economic development. Better upkeep is the first avenue to bringing in jobs. No brainer.
Let the lottery go Tater, tired of driving to Louisiana!
Nobody said decent roads and bridges are not needed. Most everybody, though, distrusts legislated clauses that pretend to mandate where monies will be spent.
Remember the Social Security Trust Fund which, at the federal level, made it impossible for the money to be diverted?
On the state level, remember the PERS money that the legislature is still trying to get ahold of? Remember grants to MHP? Remember any damned Grant with mandated use?
Remember Canton Municipal Utilities? Remember Madison County pissing away millions on airport studies and unneeded lakes when taxpayers assumed those monies would be spend on necessary projects?
Remember Madison Count Supervisors stating monies could only be used for particular road projects but then hiding the pea under a different shell three months later?
I agree! This is helpful to us Mississippians! Road repair would be seen and used by all of us and it would create jobs here in our state. Let's go! Let's get this done
If the lottery ever comes to Mississippi does anyone want to bet that the money will be spent on roads?
I can't name a single bill passed into law that has helped me and my business in the last 8 years. This bill would help us!
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