VIDEO: Parker King Draws A Timeline On The Lowndes County 2% Restaurant Tax Negotiations

LOWNDES COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – The city of Columbus and the Convention and Visitors Bureau are no closer to an agreement.

Columbus asked for $12,500 per festival instead of $10,000.

The CVB countered with another offer.

For the last two months, we’ve reported the progress of the renewal of the 2% restaurant tax in Lowndes County.

During those two months, there may be some questions and a bit of gray area, but in a summary we hope to answer some of those questions and add some clarity.

Let’s start from the beginning.

2008 was when Lowndes County and the city of Columbus agreed on a 2% restaurant tax.

That means 2% of the proceeds from these restaurants went towards the CVB.

It started out pretty well in 2008, $1.3 million, and as the years went on, it was a ten year deal, 2017… We are looking at a bit shy of $2 million.

The was that was distributed was the Golden Triangle LINK received 15% of those proceeds; the Columbus and Lowndes Conventions and Visitors Bureau received the rest.

The key factor is the floor is $300,000.

People ask ‘What is a floor?”

To numb it down, the floor is a requirement, a minimum, meaning restaurants that were involved in the 2% restaurant tax had to sell at least $300,000 in total proceeds.

Again, this is the ten year deadline, so now we’re in November.

We’re trying to renew this.

The new deal is that the LINK will receive $250,000 guaranteed, instead of 15%; the CVB received the rest.

This is the first renewal proposal.

We say ‘first’ because… Enter the city of Columbus.

They want a piece of this pie.

They’ve seen how much it’s grown in the last ten years.

The board of Supervisors passed 3-2 in favor of the first proposal.

That’s important because a divided decision sent to Jackson will not pass.

It’s not a written law, but the practicality is Jackson does not deal with local disputes.

Now, we’re in a period of negotiations.

The city last week at their council meeting wanted $300,000 for Parks and Recreation to help renovate the baseball fields at Propst Park and $50,000 for the amphitheater.

The county agreed, but surprise surprise Monday at the CVB’s meeting the city decided instead of $10,000 for each special events and festivals they want $12,500, only a $2,500 increase, which is nothing in the grand scheme of things.

But it caught them off-guard, so they’re willing to work with the $2,500 increase, but they want a little bit of a renegotiation themselves.

They wanted 1/3 of a grass lot at the beginning of Main Street that used to house the old Gilmer Inn for an outdoor classroom and activity space for the new children’s museum.

This puts a kink in things because they city wants that lot for a hotel behind the Trotter Convention Center.

So where are we right now?

Currently, there is no agreement; there is no compromise being made right now.

The Mayor’s office is currently trying to come up with a statement to respond to this renegotiation.

We have time, though.

We have until March 9th through March 16th to create a written deal can be sent down to Jackson in the form of the bill.

Worst-case scenario, if no deal is made, we lose $2 million to a potential $3.5 million.

Do you want to know why? Because the floor is now at $0.

That means every restaurant ranging from McDonald’s to Huck’s is included in this 2% restaurant tax, not having to make $300,000.

So we could potentially lose $3.5 million, and the CVB could see is to exist.

If no compromise is made, Columbus in Lowndes county are looking at the loss of a lot of money in the disappearance of a major advertising unit.