The idea of a new tax usually does not go over well. Realistically, this will not be happening in the immediate future, but it will sit in the back of people’s minds I hope like a pink elephant (or more metaphorically appropriate, a pink, ceramic pig). Getting a local only sales tax passed will mean the board of aldermen would have to adopt the resolution. It would require a possible 60 percent vote in favor from citizens, and it would require approval from the state legislature. There are simply a lot of bottlenecks even if the majority of the city did someday decide to implement a LOST. Morton tried to put in a LOST last year but if failed to get through the obstacle course.
There is always the argument, “Read my lips — no new taxes.” And the words often come from the lips that will tell you we should end the IRS and utilize a fair tax (a federal sales tax). I argue to my absolutist friends to realize this is an experiment in flat taxes and an experiment to expand the independence of a city to pick up the slack where the state has made cuts.
The city of Forest currently gets about 18 percent of the 7 percent state sales tax generated in the city. In 2016, the city brought in about $2.335 million from that, and Forest is on its way to generating about the same amount if not a little more by the end of September (when the fiscal year concludes). The full 7 percent sales tax generated in the city in 2016 was about $12.95 million. The total revenue taxable through sales for the city businesses in 2016 was about $184.93 million.
If Forest implemented a 1 percent LOST (making the total sales tax 8 percent), it would add an additional $1.84 million to the city’s tax revenue. The total sales tax revenue for the city would be $4.14 million.
If the city implemented a 2 percent LOST, the city would gain an additional $3.69 million. The total sales tax revenue for the city with a 2 percent LOST would be $6.02 million.
While this does tax Forest residents, it would also tax non-residents that are utilizing the roads and not currently paying taxes. Forest permitted a Super Walmart to be built in Forest and it brings in shoppers from around the county and from Raleigh. Forest is a consumerist destination, and for this reason the city should take advantage of it.
The added revenue could be prioritized for the roads the first year, and in future years could fund the construction of an amphitheater or drive-in near I-20. It could be used to restore more buildings downtown. It could be used to build a new theater downtown. I believe the added revenue should be utilized with the purpose of generating more sales revenue by feeding the city infrastructure and aesthetics, and expanding city venues.
Forest does not need projects as acts of Keynesianism to create jobs; it needs them because Forest needs attractions to spur itself to grow. The city rests almost directly between Meridian and Jackson, and it should be taking advantage of this proximity to create something unique to draw people not only from the surrounding cities in Scott County but from Meridian and Jackson. A drive-in theater is something the larger cities do not have anymore. The romanticism and neoclassicism of the drive-in would serve to bring in traffic from all over.
The idea would be to build something to host events and thus create traffic for eateries, gas stations, and hopefully other local stores. Short of the city building an amphitheater or drive-in; I do not see such a venue being built.
