Reports - Mississippi Renewal

THE GOVERNOR’S COMMISSION REPORT | 71reasonable way for local governments tooffer such tax breaks at the present time.On the other hand, as rebuilding occursand the local tax bases are restored, itshould be possible to offer future taxbreaks, perhaps after 2008. Local governmentsshould offer lower propertytax rates after 2008 for all homes thatreduce their needs for infrastructure.The Mississippi State Tax Commission,working in conjunction with theMississippi Public Service Commissionand the Mississippi DevelopmentAuthority, should assess the potentialinfrastructure savings that would resultfrom improved housing quality and efficiency,and subsequently recommendlevels of tax reductions that would resultin net benefits for municipalities.This evaluation may be informed bythe results of the “Best Practices Assessment”recommendation discussed earlier.Even though the tax rebates wouldnot occur for several years, the programshould be set up within six months sodevelopers may consider the future taxbreaks in their building design decisions.Relatively low costs are associatedwith this recommendation, with mostof the expenses related to administrationas the program is created. Over thelonger term, net benefits to cities, in theform of reduced infrastructure costs, willoutweigh the costs of the rebate offered.Recommendation 27: Direct publicsubsidies. The state and/or federal governmentalso should consider directlysubsidizing housing improvements designedto make affordable homes evenmore affordable by reducing energy andwater expenses, maintenance costs, andtransportation costs. The governmentcould pay the difference in the cost forhomes that are built to higher standards,for example, or offer no-interest loansfor the upgraded portion of the housingprice. Federal agencies such as HUD,EPA, or DOE and/or state agencieswould need to establish this programwithin six months so that they couldinfluence building design decisions asthey are made. The costs likely wouldbe high, and would be borne by federalor state agencies responsible for theprograms.New Institutional RequirementsThe destruction of homes in SouthMississippi necessitated a variety ofnew institutional roles within the state.To ensure that a sufficient quantity ofaffordable housing can be rebuilt asquickly as possibly, the Commissionrecommends that the state review eachof these needs and either: (a) delegateauthority for meeting the need, as wellas allocate any additional required funding,to an existing entity; or (b) authorizeand fund the creation of a new entityto fulfill the need.