USA: $184,000 From Sardis Tourism Tax Spent On Sidewalk

Even as local businesses struggle to survive, Sardis has spent much of the revenue from a tax intended to boost tourism on a $184,494 sidewalk with metal rails.

Local officials have maintained the city’s tourism tax spending, which includes an employee salary, parks and recreation uniforms, and oil change kits for mowers, will spur economic development, while some business owners disagree.

“What they’ve done here is, in my opinion, by the laws as you read them — you can’t spend the money this way,” said Doug Mahan, owner of Sardis Steak and Seafood.

Mayor Billy Russell said the sidewalk along Main Street in downtown Sardis, which had been “crumbling and falling apart” before it was repaved, came up during a recent presentation he saw in Hattiesburg on economic development.

“If I remember right, they showed our sidewalk on screen before and after and how much more attractive it looked after we’d redone the sidewalks to make it so people want to come into town,” Russell said. “I thought that’s what the tourism tax was, to help the town grow.”

State lawmakers created Sardis’ tourism tax eight years ago, and in 2009 the measure established a 3 percent tax on hotels, motels, and food and beverages served at a restaurant. Revenue from the tax can’t be considered general fund revenue and instead must be spent to increase tourism and economic development or to maintain parks and recreation facilities, according to the law.

Mahan filed a complaint with the state auditor’s office, alleging the tourism tax revenue hasn’t been spent in the way the law intended. Sarah Smith, a staff supervisor for the auditor’s office, would not comment, citing policy that doesn’t allow the office to confirm or deny investigations.

Meanwhile, the lawmaker who authored the bill that created the tax is in full support of the way the funds have been spent. State Rep. Nolan Mettetal, R-Sardis, said the new sidewalks are safer and now compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

“That’s what it’s about — having a plan,” he said. “What I saw, I think, helped the downtown of Sardis to attract more people to that community.”

City attorney Tommy Schuler also believes the sidewalk will stimulate tourism and economic development in Sardis.

“What tourists encounter when they come to our community affects whether they want to come back again and how long they want to stay,” he said. “… It’s an expense that improves the community.”

According to city records, tourism tax revenue spent on the Main Street sidewalk project included $149,827 paid to Prairie Construction LLC, $14,877 to Pickle Iron Specialties and $10,951 to Evans Engineering.

These payments were made from 2012 to 2015 as the city has struggled financially. The Wal-Mart Express there was flagged as one of six to close in Mississippi this year. Mahan, who has closed a portion of his restaurant to stay afloat, said six other businesses shuttered last year.

“It doesn’t sound like that many, but for a small community, it’s a lot,” he said.

Rashad Frank, who owns The Score Bar and Grill and a detail shop in Sardis, believes the town isn’t doing everything it can to help local businesses.

“I think they’re actually using the money in all the wrong places for all the wrong reasons,” he said. “… They’re really doing more damage than good.”

Since the tourism tax went into effect, the city has spent bwtween $500 and $1,800 each month from the revenue on payroll, which Russell said went toward a parks and recreation worker’s salary. More than $90 from the revenue also went toward oil change kits for mowers.

Mettetal said he has seen results from Sardis’ approach to spending the tourism revenue, adding that he often sees a Sardis worker cutting grass on city-owned property.

“If that isn’t promoting tourism, I don’t know what is,” he said. “… We don’t decide how it’s spent. We try to help them have the revenue to invest in our community, and I see where a lot of it is wisely spent.”

The city spent between $40 and $80 each month on uniforms for a single parks and recreation employee, an expense that Russell said he wasn’t aware of.

“I don’t look at those particulars, because my biggest deal when I came here as mayor was to get new businesses in town, and I thought we were doing good, but Wal-Mart shut down stores, and we were in that group,” he said.

In the past, Mahan asked Sardis to devote $38,000 for a centennial event geared to boost economic development, but the city opted not to.

“This is about trying to save a town — not just us, because I don’t know if we’ll be able to make it or not,” Mahan said. “I really don’t.”

Mettetal said no one has contacted him with concerns about the way the tourism tax revenue has been spent.

“There’s some people who complain about anything,” he said. “I don’t think a dollar has been misspent. You could throw it away buying crepe paper or decorations. There are a lot of ways you could throw it away, and they didn’t.”