The humanitarian crisis that was (and still is) Jackson, Miss., exemplifies what happens when infrastructure is starved of funds — and when local governments have to try to beg for funds from the state.
A series of severe weather events debilitated Jackson’s water systems early this month: Water treatment plants were damaged, so they couldn’t refill the water towers; too little water in the towers meant water wasn’t making it to people’s taps; and what little water did drip out wasn’t safe to use. To hear the residents of Jackson tell it, this is just the latest in a yearslong saga of boil-water advisories, EPA warnings and outages caused by crumbling infrastructure.
According to many of the city’s residents, the root cause of the catastrophe is fairly straightforward: Jackson is a primarily Black, Democratic stronghold with a shrinking tax base in a deep red state — and the state’s legislators have been ignoring the city’s requests for help updating its decaying infrastructure for years. Only after this latest incident — and its national coverage — has Mississippi’s governor stepped up and sent state resources to Jackson.
Can you imagine your local government begging the state for assistance for essential projects — for years — but continuously being ignored because the people in the statehouse don’t like your local politics?
If voters pass Amendment 2 in November, that could happen here.
In the simplest possible terms, Amendment 2, the Property Tax Modernization Amendment, moves control over taxing business property and machinery, as well as personal vehicles, from the counties and gives it the Legislature. The Senate has already made clear that if Amendment 2 passes, the Legislature is more than likely to eliminate all taxes on the above. And, by moving control from the counties to the Legislature, counties will lose their ability to raise excess levies, like the ones for schools, recreation and public transportation. (For more details about the amendment itself, see David Beard’s story in today’s paper.)
The above are property taxes that are currently overseen and collected by counties, and they make up the majority of counties’ revenue. Most of the property tax revenue funds local schools, with fire, sheriff and EMS services and county health departments close behind. But this is also the money that helps the county cover and/or subsidize water treatment, garbage and recycling — and infrastructure projects.
Consider, for example, that any water systems outside city limits are the responsibility of the Monongalia County Commission. Or that all development — and corresponding roads, sewers, etc. — that fall outside a municipality is overseen and supported by the county. Or that counties often provide additional support to towns and cities for infrastructure and recreation projects.
The Legislature has promised to “backfill” whatever counties lose in property taxes because of Amendment 2. More than that, it has promised to add $1 million to the replacement rate. Which is great — while the money lasts.
The greatest flaw in the Legislature’s plan is that it bases a permanent tax restructuring on a current, likely temporary, tax surplus. The plan isn’t legally binding; the Legislature could change its mind, or, as Mon County Commissioner Tom Bloom recently said, “that [promise] doesn’t hold future legislatures into account.”
Once counties lose their control over property taxes, they won’t get it back. As the surplus dwindles and the state’s backfill rate shrinks, county commissions will have to fight Charleston and each other to secure funds for county projects. And if the politicians in Charleston decide they don’t like your county — or the largest town in your county — you may just see the services and infrastructure your county used to provide crumble and disappear.
