Time is running out for the 10-year life span of a 2 percent prepared food and beverage tax in Starkville. The Board of Aldermen will vote Tuesday on continuing the tax for another 10 years.
If the aldermen vote in favor of the tax, the bill will have to be sent to the Mississippi Legislature for approval. If the Legislature OKs the referendum, Starkville voters can decide whether the tax will be renewed after it expires in June 2005.
The city held a workshop Thursday night to get suggestions from the community as to how the money could be spent if the tax is renewed. Comments from the meeting are not included in this article because the event occurred after The Reflector was sent to press.
“We are not going into the meeting with our minds made up,” Starkville Mayor Mack Rutledge said. “We want to listen to the public,”
Currently 40 percent of the tax revenue goes to the Parks and Recreation Department, 20 percent to the Convention and Visitors Bureau and 20 percent to the Oktibbeha County Economic Development Authority. The remaining 20 percent is retained by the City of Starkville.
Representatives from the university administration and the Student Association worked together to draft a proposal that would use some of the money from the tax to benefit students.
“We are totally in favor of the tax, if students get a fair proportion,” SA President Josh Blades, president of the SA, said. “We feel that we deserve it.”
Students were polled during SA elections last spring to see how many supported the two percent tax. Approximately 20 percent of students supported the tax as it is now, but about 80 percent of students indicated they would support the tax if there was something tangible for students.
“We want to extend our appreciation to the city for improving the life of students in Starkville,” Brian Havard, SA cabinet coordinator said. “We would just like an opportunity for a slice of the pie to go toward a student idea.”
Havard also said that in a survey, many students that left MSU for other universities did so because Starkville lacked things for students to do.
“We just ask that you listen with an open heart and mind to what students want,” Havard said.
Also at the meeting last week, Cotton District Proprietor Dan Camp asked if there were any students on the boards that make decisions on how the tax money is spent.
“Maybe the question is, how do we get student involvement?” Frank Chiles, moderator of the meeting, said.