Mississippi
The quiet part out loud: Mississippi political leaders tolerate tax burden on poor – Mississippi Today
Former Gov. Haley Barbour finally said the quiet part out loud.
During a recent speech to the Mississippi State University Stennis Institute of Government and Capitol Press Corps, the former two-term governor and master communicator said taxing groceries was a good thing because everybody has to eat.
Barbour reasoned that it is important for all people to have skin in the game — to pay taxes — because “otherwise, they will vote to pave the streets with gold if they don’t have to pay anything.”
Various conservative politicians and other policymakers espouse the Barbour philosophy that a tax on food is fair and necessary. To ensure that poor people pay taxes, too, they advocate for a grocery tax that absorbs a much greater percentage of the income of low income families.
The quiet part out loud is a reference to the fact that as governor from 2004 until 2012, Barbour blocked legislative efforts to eliminate the grocery tax and offset that lost revenue, at least in part by increasing the tax on cigarettes. Barbour vetoed two bills in 2006: one to eliminate the highest in the nation 7% tax on food and the other to cut in half the levy on groceries.
Veto messages are where governors articulate their reasoning for opposing legislation. In neither veto of the grocery tax cut bills did the governor talk about “fairness.”
Instead, he talked about the fact that the combination of cutting or eliminating the grocery tax and increasing the cigarette tax was not revenue neutral. The legislation, Barbour argued at the time, would produce less revenue for the state.
He maintained that it sent the wrong message to cut taxes at a time when he was going to Congress to try to secure federal funds to help with the recovery from the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina. And in fairness to the governor, Hurricane Katrina was the seminal event of Barbour’s tenure as governor and one of the seminal events in the state’s history, and his ability to obtain those funds was paramount for the success of the Gulf Coast and south Mississippi.
So it is fair to say Katrina was heavy on Barbour’s mind in 2006 when the Legislature sent him the bills to cut the grocery tax.
It is clear, though, that Mississippi’s political leadership still has similar views as Barbour on the grocery tax. Since Barbour has left office, there have been two major reductions in the income tax: one in 2016 when Phil Bryant was governor and another in 2022 when Tate Reeves was governor.
There has been no cut in the grocery tax during that time.
This year the Senate proposes another major cut in the income tax and a reduction in the grocery tax from 7 cents to 5 cents on every dollar purchase of groceries.
There are efforts by the House leadership and Reeves to completely eliminate the income tax. In addition, the House tax cut plan essentially would trim the grocery tax to 5.5%. The House plan in most instances also would raise the sales tax on most other retail items from 7% to 8.5%.
And there are retail items other than groceries that most all people need. After all, most everyone, including poor people who might not pay an income tax, must buy clothes, household utensils and numerous other retail items that under the House plan would cost more because of the increase in the sales tax.
In short, there are many opportunities other than the grocery tax to collect taxes from poor people.
But just to recap:
• Only 12 states tax food like Mississippi does.
• Mississippi not only has the highest state-imposed tax on food, but also has one of the country’s highest sales taxes on other retail items.
• Mississippi has one of the lowest income taxes in the country and it is getting even lower thanks to the 2022 tax cut that is still being phased in.
The aforementioned tax structure results in Mississippi’s low-wage earners paying a greater percentage of their income in state and local taxes than do the state’s more affluent residents, a 2024 study found.
The report by the Institute of Taxation and Economic Policy found that Mississippi has the nation’s 19th-most regressive tax system where low-income residents are forced to pay a larger percentage of their income in taxes than the state’s wealthier citizens.
The study shows the income tax is the only component of the Mississippi tax system that requires the wealthy to pay more than the poor.
And even though Mississippi has the nation’s highest percentage of poor people, the quiet part that needs to be told louder is that our leaders are working to make the tax structure even more regressive.
How to grill burgers on propane grill
Perfect your grilling techniques with these 4 BBQ tips.
ProblemSolved, USA TODAY
A Jackson, Mississippi, icon has been named the best burger in Mississippi.
Foodie offers tips for “living a delicious life” from where you go out to eat to what you cook at home. It’s ranked the best hamburger restaurant in every state.
“Of course, the bigger burger chain names have become famous worldwide, but U.S. soil is also home to a dazzling variety of burger businesses, from those selling everything from high-end gastroburgers and gluten- or meat-free versions, to hole-in-the-wall places that have been slinging sliders for generations,” Scheenagh Harrington wrote for Foodie.
The site’s pick for the best in the Magnolia State is not surprising.
“Many businesses claim their product is the best in town, but Jackson-based Stamps Super Burgers really does deliver,” Harrington wrote.
They warned to plan your trip. Afternoons can get very busy.
Why do people love Stamps burgers?
Stamps Super Burgers, 1801 Dalton St., Jackson, was founded in 1986. Since then, three generations of the Stamps family have served juicy burgers and fresh-cut fries to the community.
Today, it’s co-owned by Phil Stamps Jr. In a previous interview with the Clarion Ledger, he said it “originally started with my grandmother and grandfather in 1970 when they purchased it from Canterbury Grocery, and the entire family operated that business as a grocery and meat market for a while before transitioning over to burgers in 1986.”
The kitchen is open, in the center of the restaurant. You can watch employees cut potatoes for fries or man the grill.
A signature Stamps hamburger comes with an 11-ounce beef patty and mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard, lettuce, tomato, pickle and onions. The menu also has wings and different burger options, like turkey or portobello.
The Washington Addition restaurant regularly tops “best of” rankings for the state. In 2024, it was on the USA TODAY Restaurants of the Year list.
Where are the best burgers in Jackson, MS?
Yelp lists the Top 10 burger joints in Jackson, based on user reviews.
- Stamps Super Burgers
- Foundation Burger
- Fat Albert’s
- Cs’s
- Rooster’s Restaurant
- Rowan’s
- Bulldog Burger
- The Pig & Pint
- Brent’s Drugs
- Not Just a Burger
Contributing: Kiara Fleming
Bonnie Bolden is the Deep South Connect reporter for Mississippi with USA TODAY NETWORK. Email her at bbolden@gannett.com.
Mississippi
An 1850s Parsonage in Natchez, Mississippi, Is Selling for the First Time in Over a Century
A 174-year-old brick parsonage house on a bluff above the Mississippi River is now for sale in Natchez, Mississippi, asking $1.985 million.
The home, completed in 1852, was built by architect James Hardie as a residence for Methodist ministers, according to historical records. The land was donated by Peter Little, a wealthy cotton broker and slave owner who built the city’s historic Rosalie mansion.
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The house was initially built as a one-story residence with an “English” basement and a carriage house; a two-story annex was added later, according to the listing with Douglas Adams of Crescent Sotheby’s International Realty, informed by the Historic Natchez Foundation.
“The location is what is superb because it is one of the highest points in Natchez overlooking the Mississippi River,” said Adams, who posted the listing Thursday.
In 1893, the Parsonage changed hands for the last time when it was purchased by James and Agnes Metcalfe, and has been in the Metcalfe family ever since.
Known as the Parsonage, the residence is considered a classic example of Greek Revival architecture from the pre-Civil War South, with a wide portico, raised porch and sash windows. It is located on South Broadway Street, in a commanding position that overlooks Bluff Park, the Mississippi and downtown Natchez. It spans 6,500 square feet with five bedrooms, two formal parlors flanking a central hall and richly detailed interiors that include original exposed-brick walls, fireplaces and stained-glass windows.
In addition to a front porch, the property includes several outdoor terraces and balconies, including a second-floor wraparound deck and a balustraded rooftop—which has the best vantage point from which to see the wide views.
The home was occupied for many years by the late Albert and Gay Metcalfe, who married at the Parsonage in 1959, and would host events for friends. “It became something of a social hub,” Adams said. “They’d host families to celebrate someone’s life; there may have been some weddings that occurred there.”
Gay Metcalfe died in 2023 and the heirs are her three children, Adams said. The family couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
Hardie, the architect, was a Scottish immigrant who built several other notable buildings in Natchez, including most prominently St. Mary Basilica, a Gothic Revival structure on the National Register of Historic Places, and the Homewood plantation, a Greek Revival mansion.
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According to local lore, the Parsonage was commissioned by Little because his wife, Eliza’s religious devotion led her to welcome every passing minister into their home, according to “Natchez,” a 1940s history of the city. Displeased with the “long siege of such guests,” Little decided to build a separate home for his wife’s visitors.
Little’s own mansion at Rosalie still stands today near the site of the 1729 massacre of the Natchez Native Americans, from whom the city takes its name.
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