Harrison County court orders election on county assistance district and 2% sales-tax for unincorporated areas

The Harrison County Commissioners Court voted Aug. 13 to call an election on creating a Harrison County Assistance District that would permit a sales and use tax in unincorporated parts of the county.

County Judge Chad Sims told the court the measure would “raise funds from the unincorporated areas of the county through a sales tax” and that the county would receive the additional 2 percentage points if voters approve the district. He asked the court to consider committing “100% of those funds to repairs of county roads.”

The order directs that the election be held to authorize the district and the additional local sales tax and resolves other matters related to the conduct of that election. Commissioners moved and seconded the order and the court approved the item by a 5-0 vote.

Why it matters: Court members framed the proposal as a way to generate dedicated revenue for county road work in unincorporated areas, where the county said it currently receives no portion of the baseline state-directed sales tax. If approved by voters, the district’s proceeds would provide a new local funding stream; the court discussed but did not adopt a binding spending ordinance at this meeting.

Next steps: The court approved the order calling the election; the commissioners said a separate resolution specifying how the county would spend the revenue (the court suggested dedicating proceeds to road construction/repairs) would be drafted and considered at a future meeting.