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Mississippi Today

Plans to build Jackson green spaces aimed at tackling heat, flooding and blight

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mississippitoday.org – Alex Rozier – 2024-09-27 11:59:52

A group of nonprofits in and around the capital are teaming up to build new green spaces in , looking to offer environmental benefits such as limiting both flooding as well as a phenomenon known as โ€œheat islands.โ€

Dominika Parry, a Polish native, founded the Ridgeland-based 2C Mississippi in 2017, hoping to raise awareness around climate change impacts in the state. The group has attempted relatively progressive ideas before, such as bringing climate curriculums to public schools and establishing the state’s first community solar program. 

With a lack of political appetite, though, those projects have struggled to get off the ground, Parry explained โ€“ โ€œI realized that no one in Mississippi talks about climate change,โ€ she told . But she’s confident that the green spaces initiative will have a meaningful environmental impact. 

Dorothy Davis, president of the Farish Street Community of Shalom, showing a sensor used to measure heat and humidity. Credit: Alex Rozier / Mississippi Today

In one project with the Farish Street Community of Shalom, 2C Mississippi is building green spaces along the historic Farish Street in downtown Jackson. The groups recently acquired $1.5 million through the Inflation Reduction Act for the idea. 

A 2020 study in Jackson from consultant CAPA Strategies identified โ€œheat islands,โ€ or urban that absorb more heat because they have fewer trees and bodies of . The study found that at times during the summer, parts of downtown were over 10 degrees hotter than areas around the edge of the city. 

The idea for the spaces, which will go in courtyards between Amite and Griffith Streets, includes new trees, vertical gardens, and a maintained grassy area for gatherings and events like the neighborhood’s Juneteenth celebration (renderings of the project from 2C Mississippi are shown below). Parry said they’ll start to plant the trees in January and have the whole spaces done sometime next year. Then, she plans to monitor the impacts, including on the energy needs of surrounding buildings. 

Dorothy Davis, Shalom’s president, said that the new tree canopy will give shelter from the simmering temperatures that brew over the city concrete. It’s a concern in an area where, Davis said, many without reliable or even any air conditioning. Over a few weeks this summer, as an extension of the 2020 study, she and a group of local measured the heat index along Farish Street, which Davis said never dipped below 100 degrees. 

โ€œIt wasn’t surprising because I’ve been in Mississippi all my life, I know how Mississippi heat is,โ€ said Davis, who has been in Jackson since 1963. โ€œBut it was very concerning because we have a lot of elderly people in this area especially.โ€

According to the National Weather Service, which has temperature dating back to 1896, five of the top 10 hottest years in Jackson have occurred in the last 10 years. 

In addition to the Farish Street project, 2C Mississippi is also working on building โ€œmicroparksโ€ around west Jackson. Voice of Calvary Ministries, another local nonprofit, partners with the city of Jackson to eliminate blight, and, along with some other groups, is working to restore and build new homes in about 150 properties around West Capitol Street near the Jackson Zoo.ย 

โ€œWe have a lot of lots that we can really do some reinvestment in, not just with housing, but the parks,โ€ said VOCM’s president and CEO Margaret Johnson. โ€œI think we can offer something new and different to an impoverished area of the city.โ€ 

Johnson explained that the area is near a flood zone, and the microparks are a preemptive measure to reduce risk as well as the financial burden of flood insurance. 

Many of the lots have been abandoned for years, she said, often after people moved away or an owner died without a family member coming to take care of the property. With no one to tend to the , it deteriorates, turning into an eyesore.ย 

โ€œIt seems to be more concentrated in west Jackson than some other parts of the city,โ€ Johnson said, adding that the area doesn’t have a real park for to play in or for people to get together. โ€œThere hasn’t been any real, new construction in west Jackson, of any significant level, in the last, 20, 25, 30 years.โ€

So far, VOCM and 2C Mississippi have picked about six neighboring lots on Louisiana Avenue to turn into microparks, which Parry said will be done by the end of 2025. The groups also plan to hold a community meeting Oct. 15 to invite residents’ feedback. Johnson hopes they can eventually expand the idea to other parts of Jackson.  

ย โ€œI think once we do this and people see it, we can go to other parts of the city and do the same thing,โ€ she said. โ€œSo, I think this is just the start of something great for the city of Jackson.โ€

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

Mississippi Today

Vote today: Mississippi voters head to the polls. Hereโ€™s what you need to know

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mississippitoday.org – Geoff Pender – 2024-11-05 03:00:00

Polls in Mississippi will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. today as voters make their picks for presidential, congressional, judicial and some local races.

READ MORE: View Mississippi sample ballot

Voters are reminded to bring a identification. This can include a valid Mississippi driver’s license, an identification or employee identification card issued by any government entity of the U.S. or state of Mississippi, a U.S. passport, a military photo ID card, a current student ID card issued by an accredited college or or a Mississippi voter ID card. For more information on voter ID rules, check here.

READ MORE: Vote Tuesday: Candidates battle for seats on state’s highest courts

Those who do not have a valid ID can vote affidavit, but must return and present a photo ID within five days for their ballot to count. Voters waiting in line as polls close at 7 p.m. will still be to vote. If you vote absentee or affidavit, you can track the status of your ballot here.

POLLING PLACE LOCATOR: Use the secretary of state’s online locator to find where you vote

Stay tuned to for results, starting after polls close.

LISTEN: Podcast: Mississippi’s top election official discusses Tuesday’s election

The Mississippi secretary of state’s office offers an online resource, My Election Day, where voters can locate or confirm their polling place, view sample ballots and view current office holders. Those with doubts or questions about their precinct locations are urged to contact their local election . Contact info for local election officials is also provided on the My Election Day site.

READ MORE: Mississippi Election 2024: What will be on Tuesday’s ballot?

The secretary of state’s office, U.S. attorney’s office and the state Democratic and Republican parties will have observers across the state monitoring elections and responding to complaints.

The secretary of state’s elections division can be contacted at 1-800-829-6786 or ElectionsAnswers@sos.ms.gov.

The U.S. attorney’s office investigates election fraud, intimidation or rights issues and can be contacted at 601-973-2826 or 601-973-2855, or complaints can be filed directly with the Department of Justice division at civilrights.justice.gov. Local law enforcement primary jurisdiction and serves as a first responder for alleged crimes or emergencies at voting precincts.

The secretary of state’s office also provides some Election Day law reminders:

  • It is unlawful to campaign for any candidate within 150 feet from any entrance to a polling place, unless on private property.
  • The polling places should be clear of people for 30 feet from every entrance except for election officials, voters waiting to vote or authorized poll watchers.
  • Voters are prohibited from taking photos of their marked ballots.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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Mississippi Today

Senate panel weighs how much โ€” or whether โ€” to cut state taxes

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mississippitoday.org – Taylor Vance – 2024-11-04 15:42:00

A group of senators on Monday grappled with how much to slash state taxes or if they should cut them at all, portending a major policy debate at the Capitol for next year’s legislative

The Senate Fiscal Policy Study Group solicited testimony from the state ‘s leading experts on budget, economic and tax policies to prepare for an almost certain intense debate in January over how much they should trim state taxes while balancing the need to fund government services.ย 

Senate Finance Chairman Josh Harkins, a Republican from Flowood whose committee has jurisdiction over tax policy, told Mississippi that he wanted senators to have basic facts in front of them before they help decide next year if Mississippi should cut taxes.

โ€œWe’re getting a tax cut the next two years whether we do anything or not,โ€ Harkins said. โ€œI just want to make sure we have all the facts in front of people to understand we have a clear picture of how much revenue we’re bringing in.โ€  

Mississippi is already phasing in a major tax cut. After a raucous debate in 2022, lawmakers agreed to phase in an income tax cut. In two years it will Mississippi with a flat 4% tax on income over $10,000, one of the lowest rates in the nation.

However, the top two legislative leaders, Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann who oversees the Senate and House Speaker Jason White, have both recently said they want legislators to consider new tax cut policies.  

Hosemann, the Republican leader of the Senate, has publicly said he would like to see the state’s grocery tax, the highest of its kind in the nation, reduced, though he hasn’t specified how much of a reduction or how long it would take for the cut to be implemented. 

White, a Republican from , said last week that he would like to see the state’s 4% income tax phased out and have the state’s 7% grocery tax cut in half over time. 

โ€œWe are hoping to construct a tax system that, yes, prioritizes certain needs in our state, but it also protects and rewards taxpayers,โ€ White said last week. 

But it’s difficult to collect accurate data on the state’s grocery tax, and state lawmakers must grapple with a laundry list of spending needs and obligations based on testimony from state agency leaders on Monday. 

Mississippi currently has a 7% sales tax, which is applied to groceries. The state collects the tax but remits 18.5% back to cities. For many municipalities, the sales tax is a significant source of revenue. 

If state lawmakers want to reduce the grocery tax without impacting cities, they could pass a new to change the diversion amounts or appropriate enough money to make the municipalities whole.  

State Revenue Commissioner Chris Graham said the Mississippi Department of Revenue, the agency in charge of collecting state taxes, does not have a mechanism in place for accurately capturing how much money cities collect in grocery taxes. This is because the tax on groceries is the same as non-grocery items. 

However, Graham estimates that the state collects roughly $540 million in taxes from grocery items.

The other problem lawmakers would have in implementing significant tax cuts is a growing list of spending needs in Mississippi, a state with abject poverty, and sewer and other infrastructure woes and some of the worst health metrics in the nation. 

Representatives from the Legislative Budget Office, the group that advises lawmakers on tax and spending policy, told senators that lawmakers will also be faced with rising costs in the public employee retirement system, the Medicaid budget, public education, state employee health insurance, and state infrastructure projects. 

READ MORE: As lawmakers look to cut taxes, Mississippi mayors and county leaders outline infrastructure needs

State agencies, the employee retirement system, also requested $751 million more for the coming budget year.

โ€œThat’s the dollar question, I guess,โ€ Senate Appropriations Chairman Briggs Hopson, a Republican from Vicksburg, said. โ€œHow we’re able to fund basic government services?โ€ 

Harkins and Hopson said the committee would likely meet again before the Legislature convenes for its 2025 session on January 7.

A House committee on tax cuts has also been holding hearings, and White in September held a summit on tax policy.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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Mississippi Today

Already dire lack of affordable housing for low-income Mississippians on verge of worsening

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mississippitoday.org – Simeon Gates – 2024-11-04 11:00:00

In Mississippi, where there’s already a dearth of 50,000 or more affordable homes for extremely low-income residents, that number could grow in the next five years.

Housing units available under the federal Low Income Tax Credit program could lose their affordability by 2030 โ€“a number estimated nationwide to be 350,000 with 2,917 in Mississippi, alone; 496 in the already have.

The federal program responsible for most of the nation’s affordable housing is expiring.

The Low Income Housing Tax Credit, introduced as part of the Tax Reform Act of 1986,  provides for developers to buy, build and restore low-income housing units. Under the deal, the housing only needs to stay low-rent for 30 years. Construction began in the early 1990s. 

Some LIHTC housing will remain affordable due to other subsidies, nonprofits, state law and individual landlords.

โ€œI think the low-income housing tax credit has done everything that it can to address the need for affordable housing around the state,โ€ said Scott Spivey, executive director of the Mississippi Housing Corporation, a state office that administers the program and works with the state government and those in the affordable housing industry to create and affordable housing

Spivey supports the proposed Affordable Housing Credit and Improvement Act, a federal bill that would expand upon the low-income housing tax credit in several ways, giving developers more credit for certain projects for low-income households and changing tenant eligibility rules. 

The bill was introduced in the House and the Senate last , and is co-sponsored by Mississippi Sens. Cindy Hyde-Smith and Roger Wicker and in the House by Reps. Mike Ezell, and Michael Guest. As of this spring, both bills are in committee. 

While housing has become a major issue for Americans, getting legislation passed has been challenging. โ€œEverybody knows that housing is an issue, but it gets caught up with everything elseโ€ฆand it kind of gets lost in the shuffle,โ€ said Spivey.

This issue is especially important in Mississippi, where demand for housing is high across all incomes. 

โ€œAll the market studies that we see that come with the applications tell us that there’s a huge need for affordable housing across the state at all the income bandsโ€ said Spivey.

According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, almost a third of Mississippi renters are extremely low income; 65% of them are severely cost burdened, meaning they spent more than half their income on rent. The majority of these households are seniors, disabled people, single caregivers of young , people enrolled in school, or other. 

Director of Housing Law at the Mississippi Center for Justice, Ashley Richardson said housing problems worsened after Mississippi stopped participating in the federal rental assistance program in 2022.

MCJ’s work on housing includes a statewide eviction hotline, investigating instances of housing discrimination, and more. 

Richardson praised the LIHTC program, but echoed Spivey’s concerns. โ€œEven with the affordable housing we do have in Mississippi, we are still at a lack,โ€ she said. 

The National Housing Preservation Database estimates Mississippi is short 52,421 affordable and available rental homes for low-income people. The National Low Income Housing Coalition puts the figure at 49,478.

Richardson wants the state to deal with issues like providing more tenant protections and rental assistance. There’s also a need to improve homes that are rundown or in poor , and many housing nonprofits are running out of funding. 

Spivey said people should to their property managers and learn about their rights. MHC’s website has resources for homebuyers and renters.

As the housing crisis goes on, there are options for people struggling to find and keep affordable housing and an effort to take action at the federal and state levels.  

Some aspiring low-income homeowners may qualify for Habitat for Humanity, a program that builds homes for families in need. Families who qualify work on the homes alongside volunteers, pay an affordable mortgage and financial literacy education.

New applicants must meet the qualifications, including a good debt-income ratio, 125 hours of sweat equity and taking classes on financial literacy, home repairs, and being a good neighbor.

Merrill McKewen, executive director for Habitat for Humanity Mississippi Capital Area, emphasized the importance of housing to individuals and communities. 

โ€œThere are untold studies that have been done that, you’ve gotta have a safe, decent, affordable place to live. The children are better , the are better employeesโ€ฆit grounds you to a community that you can contribute to and be a part of. It is the American dream, to own a home, which is what we’re all about,โ€ she said. 

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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