With the recent approval from members of Hattiesburg City Council, Petal Board of Aldermen and Forrest County Board of Supervisors, the request to form a new “river district” in Hattiesburg and Petal is headed to the Legislature.
The proposed district – tentatively known as the Leaf and Bouie Redevelopment District – would stretch east and west of the Bouie Rivers and would be aimed at promoting infrastructure, recreation and economic vitality in that area with the help of existing taxes from the three entities.
“We’re cautiously optimistic that we’ll have local support for this,” Hattiesburg Mayor Toby Barker said. “I think there was a good dialogue between the leadership of Petal and Forrest County, and we have a framework.
“Of course, anything can happen in the legislative process, but we’ve done our best to start having conversations with our neighbors about what this will bring to the area. We have a delegation that works very well together, and is united for the city.”
Endeavors in new district would be funded by a percentage of the ad valorem taxes already collected by the two cities and the county. For the two municipalities, officials also could consider pledging a portion of the sales tax collected in that area.
Officials from Hattiesburg, Petal and Forrest County have agreed to donate at least 15 percent of collected taxes to the areas, although they could choose a higher amount in each year’s budget.
“We wanted to be sure that there was some buy-in from everyone, even in a tough budget year,” Barker said. “So 15 percent was kind of a threshold that everyone, even if they had a tough year, that they could probably do.
“Of course, when we do our budget process this year, we’ll recommend to city council that we go between 80 to 100 percent, because it’s that important to get this thing off the ground and started. But it does allow flexibility for all three governing bodies.”
The proposed district encompasses areas as far north as Glendale Avenue, as far south as East Laurel Avenue, as far east as Carterville Road and as far west as Lakeview Road near Greens Creek. Because the lines for the district have been extended since its original proposal, officials are still in the process of obtaining for The PineBelt NEWS the number of parcels in the area, as well as the amount of ad valorem taxes collected in the new boundary.
The Legislature is expected to decide on the matter in the first week of April.
“I think we were all in agreement – the aldermen and I – that it’s worth us joining in with Forrest County and Hattiesburg,” Petal Mayor Hal Marx said. “It’s not going to require us to have a lot of money in, but it does give us the opportunity to possibly get some grants and money that we could then invest in our side of the river to help develop it into a recreation area.
“So I think it’d be a good, cooperative effort between the two cities and the county. I think it’s a good idea.”
The river district was first proposed by Barker last month during a Hattiesburg City Council meeting, and was approved by the cities and the county shortly after.
“First, we all have a mutual interest in what happens on the Leaf and Bouie rivers – for interest, Councilwoman (Deborah) Delgado’s Twin Forks Rising,” Barker said at the meeting. “With our side of the river and Petal’s side of the river, we know that we can certainly make better use of the water there and turn it into an asset.
“Secondly, we’ve seen the potential of shared use on the river with our Fourth of July celebration, which brought 8,000 to 10,000 people combined on both sides of the river. So what we bring here today is the prospect of enhancing the quality of life and bringing people back to both sides of the river, and strengthening all of our economies through the creation of a joint river district.”
