Lawmakers agree on measures to fight blight in Mississippi municipalities

• From grants to tax incentives, lawmakers look to aid cities and towns in cleaning up.

Lawmakers passed a conference report Monday afternoon that sets the framework for awarding grants to Mississippi municipalities to fight blight on tax forfeited properties listed with the Secretary of State’s office.

The report for HB 733 establishes the “Property Cleanup Revolving Fund.” Its purpose is to provide up to 15 grants to every local government body, from the state’s smallest village of Satartia in Yazoo County to the largest municipality, the capital city of Jackson, explained State Senator Chad McMahan (R). The City of Jackson would be eligible to receive up to 30 grants. Each grant could total up to $2,000.

“This is a good product. It takes [into consideration] every municipality, every mayor, every alderman. You can take it home and share this with them. These are grants, not loans,” said McMahan.

However, the fund must still be filled through the appropriations process, he said. As described by State Senator Angela Hill (R), the measure was merely “enabling legislation.”

McMahan said the legislation came from a desire to help all 300 municipalities in the state clean up their cities and towns.

“The intent is to help every single mayor and board of alderman fight blight,” McMahan said.

Nearly every town and city in Mississippi has blighted properties, with nearly 4,000 properties in varying states of disrepair. Jackson has the highest percentage of such properties.

Fearing the local governing body of Jackson would not participate in the program, the measure allows the redevelopment authority and the city’s parking authority to make application to the program. That provision caused several questions prior to the vote on the legislation.

Recently, the Mississippi Secretary of State said Jackson officials turned down between $10 million to $13 million in federal money to address blighted properties. The city said the funds were rejected because the program was not advantageous at the time.

Also, on Monday, lawmakers adopted a conference report on HB 1201, which creates incentives for developers to improve tax forfeited, blighted properties in Mississippi. The bill gives a state tax credit of upwards of 25 percent on eligible rehabilitation projects and a 75 percent tax credit as a rebate. A maximum of $50,000 was set for residential properties and $100,000 for commercial sites.