JACKSON, Miss. – Hundreds of Mississippi cities and towns could soon have more money. The legislature’s House Ways and Means Committee Tuesday passed a bill to increase their share of state sales tax collections from 18.5 to 19.5 percent.
That would give back to nearly 300 cities about $20 million. If approved, the one percent hike would still only be a drop in the bucket for local budgets. The legislature has been asked for years to let city leaders raise their own taxes which could bring in more than 14 times the expected $20 million increase lawmakers are proposing.
