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.<\/p>\n
Pierce says the annexation would boost business growth, increase city employee salaries, and generate more sales taxes for the city.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat project, I\u2019m very, very encouraged that we are going to pull it off,\u201d he said. \u201cIf 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mayor Pierce said he\u2019s advocated for the change since he was an alderman. <\/p>\n
\u201cOnce we annex that in, that will help us build a badly needed business structure here in Long Beach,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Long Beach is a bedroom community. The city has no major industries and depends only on property taxes for growth.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost of the people that understand bedroom communities understand that they really can\u2019t 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,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Pierce talked about the importance of the Gateway Harbor project that\u2019s ongoing and what it means to the city. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe harbor is Long Beach, that\u2019s where I grew up, down here on the rock pile fishing, and that\u2019s 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,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Pierce also says these changes could transform the city not just for the people living here, but for those who come and visit.<\/p>\n