An advisory panel that will help determine how the state spends money in the new “Capitol Complex Improvement District” is taking shape, but not as quickly as state officials had hoped.
The panel will advise the Department of Finance and Administration (DFA) on how to use an annual allocation within the CCID.
DFA Executive Director Laura Jackson had hoped to have the nine-member board in place by the end of the summer.
However, at press time, only three members had been appointed.
Members are Jonathan Wilson, appointed by the University of Mississippi Medical Centerand Worth Thomas, who was tapped by Jackson State University and Nathan Wells appointed by the house speaker , said Chuck McIntosh, DFA communications director.
McIntosh said DFA officials didn’t know why other members had not been appointed, adding that the executive director was expected to reach out to those charged with appointing the remaining members prior to Christmas.
Other positions that remain to be filled include two by the governor, and one each by the mayor of Jackson, the city’s public works director, the lieutenant governor, according to DFA officials.
Officials with the governor and lieutenant governor couldn’t be reached for comment. Jackson Director of Communications Kai Williams said she would look into the city’s plans, but had not gotten an answer back to the Sun at press time.
DFA officials had hoped to have panel members in place by the summer, to begin going over how the state would use money appropriated for the new CCID.
Government officials likely aren’t rushing to appoint members, in part, because no appropriations will be made until August 2018.
The district was established by lawmakers earlier this year, along with a mechanism to provide funding for infrastructure improvements within it.
It was put in place to help Jackson address some of what is likely billions of dollars in infrastructure needs.
A road study reported on by the Sun earlier this year showed the city had an estimated $1 billion in road needs. That does not include water, sewer and drainage problems.
State statute sets boundaries for the CCID and mandates the state set aside a portion of Jackson’s sales tax revenues each year to fund road, water and sewer upgrades within in it.
In the first year, 2018, about $3.2 million will be allocated for district improvements. In year two, the state will allocate $7 million for improvements, and from year three onward, $11 million will be set aside annually for improvements.
The allocations will be in addition to the sales tax diversions the city already receives from the state, and will be given to the city in perpetuity.
DFA will be charged with drawing up a master plan on how to use the monies, with the input of the nine-member advisory panel.
Funds can be used for street, bridge and drainage work, replacing and installing street lights and traffic signals, adding or rehabilitating water and sewer lines serving state buildings, rebuilding and repairing parks, public rights-of-way and sidewalks, improving landscaping, and relocating utilities.
The CCID takes in a large swath of the capital city, including JSU, UMMC, the Mississippi Research and Development Center, most of LeFleur’s Bluff State Park, and the Capitol Complex, which is made up of the Mississippi Capitol Building and the state buildings surrounding it.
The district runs from Meadowbrook Road in the north to Hooker Street in the south, and from JSU in the west to the Pearl River and Ridgewood Road in the east.
