Jackson City Council approves special property tax assessment for LeFleur East BID

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) - Some business owners in Jackson will soon pay a special assessment for improved landscaping along I-55 and Lakeland Drive.

On Tuesday, the Jackson City Council established a special assessment for commercial property owners in the LeFleur East Business Improvement District.

The decision comes about 10 months after property owners in the impacted area voted to establish the district.

Voting in favor were council members Ashby Foote, Angelique Lee, Brian Grizzell, Aaron Banks and Virgi Lindsay.

Councilmen Kenneth Stokes and Vernon Hartley abstained.

In all, about 400 property owners will be impacted, said Waren Speed, a board member of the LeFleur East Foundation. Business owners will begin paying that tax next year.

“The scope of this business improvement district... is going to be primarily a landscape improvement district. We’re looking to keep the grass cut, the curves edged, the trash picked up,” he said. “We’re doing that currently along the Lakeland Drive median... We would just like to expand that.”

The district runs along I-55 from just south of Lakeland Drive to Canton Mart Road, and along Lakeland from the interstate to the Pearl River. Properties on both sides will be impacted.

In August, 62 percent of business owners in the area voted to support the BID, slightly more than the 60 percent required for the BID to be established.

Commercial property owners will pay an additional seven cents per square foot along with their annual property taxes, which will go toward beautification.

The total amount expected to be brought in will be around $224,363.

Speed said initial improvements will likely begin in the first quarter of 2024.

Work will include not only mowing and edging but picking up trash and removing weeds from expansion joints along I-55 and Lakeland Drive bridges.

He said the BID also would like to take on larger projects, such as restoring previous improvements made at Exit 100, and hopes to fund those projects through tax-deductible contributions.

In the meantime, BID leaders are in the planning phase, “zeroing in on our landscape maintenance contractor, establishing by-laws, and planning for the execution of the contract,” he said. “Next year you’re going to see a marked improvement, and we look forward to diving into it very much.”

For more information, log onto www.lefleureast.org.

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