Based on a recent conversation with Selectman Robert Earl Smith and city administrator Quordiniah Lockley, Reps. David Myers and Sam Mims V are split on their views of reviving the city’s hotel tax, which expired in June 2009.
“The chat made me feel better about the way the money was spent,” Myers, D-McComb, said Thursday.
He said he was told safeguards are in place to ensure that funds would be spent on promoting tourism instead of local organizations and residents, and the city board will oversee the spending of those funds.
“With that conversation, I believe the city of McComb and that department is heading in the right direction and they understand what it means to spend hotel/motel tax money,” Myers said.
However, Mims, R-McComb, is still not convinced the city Community Relations and Tourism Department spent the funds correctly. He said Wednesday that a list of the department’s 2009 expenses left doubts.
“I could see very little that has changed. You can just tell there’s money being spent on local issues,” Mims said. “I’m still not convinced. I still have many concerns on where this money is being spent.”
Both representatives also shared their views on comments McComb Mayor Zach Patterson made at Tuesday’s board meeting, laying the blame for the tax’s demise at the feet of Mims and Myers.
“The hotel/motel tax is dead. It was killed by the initiative of David Myers and Sam Mims in concert,” Patterson said Tuesday. “This issue is a political issue. It’s an issue of policy. Rep. David Myers created this mess, in my opinion. He made that political mess, and if he falls back in it, so be it.”
Myers contacted the Enterprise-Journal Wednesday afternoon to tell his side of the story.
“That’s a lie. Rep. David Myers did not create this mess,” Myers said. “This mess was created by the mayor of the city of McComb and his controlling of the tourism department. In my opinion, there’s no political mess for me to fall back in.
“The mayor, in his infinite wisdom, should be looking in the mirror, and when he looks in the mirror, he’ll see where the blame should be placed.”
Mims declined to respond to the mayor’s comments about his role in the motel/hotel tax.
“It would really be a waste of my time and energy to respond to (Patterson’s) comments,” Mims said.
Part of the reason the tax bill died was a revision of the bill that called for a 60-40 split of the tax’s revenues between the city and county. Mims and Myers cited their belief that the tax revenue was being spent incorrectly as the reason for the split.
“For me, as a representative of the city, this is not a political issue for me. This is an issue about doing the right things with the people’s money,” Myers said. “This is an issue about taking care of my responsibility, ensuring that the city of McComb, which is a subdivision of the state of Mississippi, is doing the right thing with the people’s money. There’s no political hidden agenda from me.”
The meeting with Mims and Myers was the first step, but others will need to be taken before a vote in Jackson can take place.
A new bill must be introduced and signed into law and backed by a referendum.
