LONG BEACH, Miss. (WLOX) – While Mayor Tim Pierce delivered his first State of the City Address on Monday, he refloated the idea of annexing an area north of the city that includes the Long Beach Industrial Park.
Pierce says the annexation would boost business growth, increase city employee salaries, and generate more sales taxes for the city.
“That project, I’m very, very encouraged that we are going to pull it off,” he said. “If you have a business in the county, the sales tax goes back to the state. It does not go to the county. And then it gets distributed across the state. By bringing our industrial park into the city of Long Beach, that money stays here in the city of Long Beach.”
Mayor Pierce said he’s advocated for the change since he was an alderman.
“Once we annex that in, that will help us build a badly needed business structure here in Long Beach,” he said.
Long Beach is a bedroom community. The city has no major industries and depends only on property taxes for growth.
“Most of the people that understand bedroom communities understand that they really can’t give you the extras that the people deserve. In trying to fix that problem, I put together the Economic Development Committee to try to lure more businesses to our city,” he said.
Pierce talked about the importance of the Gateway Harbor project that’s ongoing and what it means to the city.
“The harbor is Long Beach, that’s where I grew up, down here on the rock pile fishing, and that’s where I launched my boats. It is very crucial to bringing our harbor back up in order to not only help the citizens of Long Beach enjoy the finer things of life, but also support our businesses along Jeff Davis,” he said.
Pierce also says these changes could transform the city not just for the people living here, but for those who come and visit.
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