Pascagoula, Miss. (WXXV)- The parks are the place childhood recollections are made, from splashes pads to summer time ball video games.
In Pascagoula, these recollections are being constructed on the similar time.
A 2% tax on meals and restaurant’s drinks is financing parks and playgrounds all through town.
A visit to the splash platform grew to become a reminiscence that Charlotte Jerde won’t neglect: his granddaughter’s first birthday in Seaside Park.
“There have been many individuals there,” stated Charlotte Jerde, a resident of Pascagoula. “It is enjoyable to see your expertise for the primary time and work together with different kids. He actually loved it.”
That splash pad, together with parks in Pascagoula, exists as a result of a 2% restaurant tax on meals and drinks.
The tax has caused a million yearly since 2013, and financed every part from video games to a ten million greenback sports activities advanced.
“It was to go to the Parques and Recreation Grasp Plan,” stated Justin Larsen, administrator of town of Pascagoula. “That plan was to replace the parks. We constructed a sports activities advanced, that’s the massive downside.”
The advanced now organizes weekend tournaments, with dozens of groups that convey companies and power to town.
“These are individuals who come to Pascagoula, and that helps the economic system right here,” Larsen stated.
However many residents didn’t know the place the cash was going, till now.
“I knew concerning the tax, however I actually did not know what it was going,” stated Jerde. “If you will finance issues like this … I’d say, sure, that could be a good cause to impose a tax.”
For Pascagoula households, these parks characterize considerably bigger than a splash pad or a recreation courtyard.
“Solely recollections with my kids and spend time with them right here. With my grandson that comes right here now, we’re persevering with with custom.”
Town leaders say that the tax additionally covers issues that most individuals don’t see, resembling discipline upkeep and lighting.
And with greater than a dozen parks to manage, that further 2% may be very helpful.
“Each 15 years, it’s important to utterly expel these kids’s parks, and Pascagoula has many playgrounds, so that cash is destined to them,” stated Jerde.
And for the households that use them, the worth is obvious.
“I’d encourage anybody who hasn’t managed to see him right here. I feel they’d be impressed and loved it.”