MERIDIAN —
Meridian, the home of the MSU Riley Center, the Temple Theater, and the future home of the Mississippi Arts and Entertainment Center, has become the first city in the state to have a designated entertainment district.
Along with state Legislature representatives and local officials, Mississippi Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann announced the entertainment district at the Temple Theater Thursday.
"We're taking steps to make our place a better place. That's happening right here in Meridian," said Hosemann. "While our tree is just coming out of the ground here with the entertainment district, we don't know how big the tree is going to grow."
Hosemann pitched the Mississippi Entertainment District Act to the Legislature last year, and it was introduced to the state house by Rep. Greg Snowden (R-Meridian), going on to pass in both the house and the senate.
The legislation allows municipalities to designate certain areas as entertainment districts, which allows for tax incentives encouraging growth in entertainment-related business.
Within an entertainment district, businesses that build or renovate an entertainment facility (which could be anything from a theater to a zoo, as long as it sells tickets, passes, or admission) can apply for an accelerated depreciation deduction on their income taxes. Other businesses, such as restaurants and hotels, that are adjoined to an entertainment facility may also be eligible for the deduction.
In order to recoup the money that the state loses on the income tax deduction, the act includes a ticket tax — a $2 fee per ticket sold which is paid to the state by businesses that take advantage of the tax deduction. Once a business has repaid its deduction through the ticket tax, the $2 fee will be dropped.
Hosemann said Meridian was one of a few Mississippi cities he had specifically in mind when he came up with the idea for the entertainment district act. Tupelo is expected to be the next city to designate an entertainment district.
"(The entertainment district) allows for renovations as well as new projects... It allows for music venues, museums, even golf courses," Snowden said at Thursday's announcement. "It's a win-win situation all the way around."
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Delbert Hosemann tells the audience at the Temple Theater about Meridian's new entertainment District Thursday as Alliance for Downtown Meridian Director John McClure and Meridian Mayor Cheri Barry watch from their seats on the stage. Jennifer Jacob Brown
Discussion
Meridian gets entertainment district
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