Jackson Free Press

The city of Jackson moved a step closer to a convention center last Saturday, when the Legislature passed a bill that allows for a voter referendum on the issue. The bill will enable the city to raise $65 million by putting additional taxes on restaurants and hotels in the Jackson city limits. Now 60 percent of voters in the city of Jackson will have to vote yea for it to pass and become a reality, assuming Gov. Haley Barbour signs it; he has indicated support for a Jackson convention center.

"This is truly a victory for those of us who have worked hard to bring a convention center into downtown Jackson. We were given little or no hope, but it happened," said Malcolm White, local restaurateur and member of the Capital City Convention Center Commission.

The $65 million is short of the $100 million that the city and supporters had sought for the project, and didn't include a tax on rental cars that they'd hoped would generate $800,000 a year to help offset costs. With a smaller budget, the convention center may have interesting choices to make. White feels $65 million will be enough for the convention center space, noting that it will be attached to the Mississippi Telecommunications Conference and Training Center, which has already broken ground at Farish and Pascagoula Streets in downtown Jackson. The Telecom Center will offer meeting facilities, while the convention center itself can be more or less "a big box" for exhibits; the less money they get, the smaller the box.

The bill's passage came just days before the beginning of National Tourism Week, which runs from May 10-14. The Jackson Convention and Visitors Bureau reports that more than 3 million visitors came to Jackson in 2003, spending an estimated $321 million. Tourism spending has increased by $135 million in Jackson since 2000.

"The biggest limitation to increasing tourism is the convention center," said Kaye Maghan, manager of communications for the CVB. "There are so many different groups that we can't even approach because we don't have the space. With a convention center, we're going after new business—business that hasn't been to Jackson or came a long time ago and has outgrown what we can accommodate."

Restaurant, hotel and car rental owners who were targeted for the tax increases opposed the bill; restaurant taxes will increase to 9 percent if the measure passes and hotel taxes will increase to 11 percent. While the hotel tax is largely seen as being imposed on non-residents, the sales tax approach is a regressive tax that will add $0.01 to every dollar spent in Jackson dining spots; the tax will not be raised in adjoining counties. Opposition outside of the restaurant and hotel associations came from some businesspeople who thought downtown was the wrong place for the convention center.

Along with the rental car tax, another tax—this one an arguable and amusing tax on "live music venues"—was inserted into the Senate version of the bill; that tax appeared to have been aimed specifically at White, who is co-owner of Hal and Mal's restaurant and brew pup in downtown Jackson and is a vocal proponent of the convention center.

The next step for proponents is to try to convince the public to support the measure before the referendum goes to a vote, which is expected to get good turnout because it's on the same ballot in November as the presidential election.

"I think people will vote for it. I think people understand it's an economic development tool; it's something that will enhance our tax base," said White. Whether that line can overcome the "no new taxes" attitude of voters and lobbying by opponents remains to be seen.