The city of Ridgeland plans to try again to pass a referendum that would fund the expansion of Freedom Ridge Park.
The Nov. 5 ballot was the first try for the referendum that would increase the city’s tourism and convention tax. The measure did not receive the necessary 60 percent to pass; the final vote was 5,234 for the referendum and 4,095 against it.
Ridgeland Mayor Gene McGee believes the reason the referendum failed is because it was included on the same ballot as the presidential election. “Getting it mixed up in a national election was not a good idea,” he said.
The Ridgeland Board of Aldermen got the ball rolling again when it adopted on Dec. 3 a resolution asking the Legislature to draft new local and private legislation, introduce it and pass so the city could put a referendum on the ballot next year.
“I would like to get it on the Primary Election ballot which is the first Tuesday in April,” McGee said, “however if we don’t get it on the Primary Election ballot then the General Election ballot on June 3.”
The referendum, if passed, would allow the city to collect another 1 percent on the gross proceeds of all sales from restaurants and another 2 percent on the gross proceeds of all sales at hotels and motels. That would be in addition to other taxes.
The funding from the increase in the tax, if approved by voters, would be used to increase the size of Freedom Ridge Park at 235 E. School St. and enhance its offerings.
The proposed expansion plans include adding baseball/softball fields, new batting cages with artificial turf, officials’ headquarters, pickleball courts, full-size artificial turf soccer fields, a festival/special events area, multi-use trails that connect to the city’s existing trails, playgrounds and pavilions.
The improvements that the tax would fund would give the city the ability to host tournaments for up to 100 teams each weekend and that would generate income for the city. Currently, the park can accommodate a total of 24 teams.
Chris Chapman, president and CEO of Explore Ridgeland, said the expansion would pave the way for more tournaments for teams from youth to college age.
Ridgeland’s location in central Mississippi plus its many hotels, restaurants and shopping
venues make it attractive to families who travel so their youngsters can participate in tournaments across the state, she said. Ridgeland has 16 hotels plus one that is under construction, 150 restaurants and five major shopping districts that include Renaissance at Colony Park, the Township at Colony Park, the Railroad District, Northpark and Highway 51.
A two-day tournament with 100 teams that have 12 players each is estimated to bring 3,000 people, including non-participants, to the city, she said. The economic impact for the weekend is estimated at $600,000 to $690,000, she said.
“That’s a lot of money,” Chapman said, noting that the tax revenue goes to support services the city government provides.
Marty Wiseman, Ph.D., emeritus professor of political science and emeritus director of Mississippi State University’s John C. Stennis Institute of Government and Community Development, said tourism taxes are helpful to cities because visitors from out-of-town pay the taxes when they spend the night at hotels and motels.
Tournaments will bring teams, coaches and families, and they spend the night at hotels and motels and pay the taxes and the city benefits, he said.
Since Oct. 1, 1997, Ridgeland has imposed a 1 percent tax on the gross proceeds of sales at restaurants, hotels and motels, including, but not limited to the sales of alcoholic beverages consumed on the premises. That’s in addition to other taxes.
