The Clarksdale Board of Mayor and Commissioners met in a quickly called meeting this week and approved a resolution seeking to levy taxes on all purchases of alcohol, hemp, marijuana and tobacco in the city.
The idea has been discussed repeated by the board and the concept covered by your Clarksdale Press Register at least twice, but it wasn’t until the Tuesday, Feb. 4 meeting that details of the plan to levy a 2-percent tax were made public.
Tuesday’s meeting was held at noon and posted on the door of city hall. The notice said the special called meeting followed state law and the media would be notified. The Clarksdale Press Register was not notified of that meeting.
The meeting saw commissioners, on a motion by Ward 1 Commissioner Bo Plunk, a second by Ward 2 Commissioner Jimmy Harris and unanimously supported by Ward 3 Commissioner Willie Turner and Ward 4 Commissioner Ed Seals, approve the resolution that now heads to Jackson for review by the Mississippi Legislature.
If the resolution becomes law, a referendum would be held in the city to approve the levy and would have to pass by 60-percent of the votes cast.
The resolution asks that a 2-percent tax be levied on top of an 11-percent tourism tax for alcohol served or purchased anywhere in Clarksdale. The new levy will add 2-percent to the purchase of tobacco, hemp or marijuana in the city limits.
The initial idea was for the levy to go strictly to the Clarksdale Police Department to hire officers, but language in the resolution states “funds (will) support public safety, crime prevention, and continuing economic growth in the city.”
Espy said in Tuesday’s meeting the deadline for submitting such legislation is next week and he would go to Jackson and help work the measure through the Mississippi House and Senate.
City Board attorney Melvin Miller said the language in the measure has been vetted by Butler & Snow and should pass any constitutional challenge.
The language for hemp and marijuana were added to tax any cannabinoid extracts, powders or salts and the sale of marijuana from a medical marijuana dispensary.
While cannabinoid products have been sold in Clarksdale for years, the city does not have a medical marijuana dispensary at this time. The city had requests to allow at least two medical marijuana dispensaries on South State Street/Old Highway 61 more than a year ago, but the businesses have been held up by state regulations.
In July the city voted to allow police and sheriff’s deputies to work side-by-side to bolster a need for law enforcement personnel in both departments. The community had just notched it’s 13th homicide and would end 2024 with 21 officially reported homicides.
Clarksdale PD currently has two investigators assigned to the Criminal Investigation Division and has 23 sworn officers on its roster. The Coahoma County Sheriff’s Department has about two dozen officers.
The Sheriff’s Department had the number of sworn officers plummet after 2023 county elections made Mario Magsby Sheriff and saw him hire his own officers. In 2021 the Clarksdale Police Department saw its workforce dwindle after the city hosted a rally as part of Black Lives Matter events across the country denouncing police brutality and telling authorities not to use force against the populace.
In June 2021 the city passed a number of measures seeking to reduce how officers respond with force in Clarksdale. The city’s Human Resource officer Tara Slack has had virtually no luck in recruiting or attracting officers to the Clarksdale Police Department.
The Clarksdale Police Department is paying fulltime veteran officer up to $44,122 a year. Part-time officers can make $18 an hour.
The annual compensation for Mayor went from $86,421 to $122,421.92 and Commissioner went from $26,650 to $46,650 on the city first meeting in June 2021.
The Clarksdale Police Department was once budgeted for budgeted for more than 40 police officers.
Since the resolution by the city must first be approved by the legislature, no date has been set for a referendum. The resolution does ask that the tax go into effect immediately upon approval by Clarksdale voters.
The tax would be collected, monitored and enforced by the Mississippi Department of Revenue with the city getting checks from the state based on confirmed collections.
