Mississippi State Government & Agencies
BPF strives to inform citizens and elected officials on its views regarding public policies that benefit or cause hard to Mississippi's economic condition. Bigger Pie believes sound public policy grounded in fiscal responsibility is a cornerstone to successful communities.
Featured Work
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PERS
Legislative Session 2018
A BPF View: Open Meetings Reform
Several Open Meetings Act cases reveal a problem in our state ethics laws: there are limited consequences for violating the Open Meetings Act.
City and County Tourism Taxes – Part I: The Way the System Works
Cities and counties continue to collect an ever-enlarging amount of tourism taxes on restaurants and hotels. Since 2004, the amount collected by the Mississippi Department of Revenue and distributed to the taxing jurisdictions has increased 151 percent. This is due to the number of localities collecting the taxes, which has increased from 59 to 83.
Update to Urban Flash Floods Part I: Who Is at Fault?
UPDATE: Bigger Pie first commented on the urban flooding issue in November 2017. It is a serious issue that has frustrated many citizens across Jackson.
Modernizing the State’s Tax Code — A Step to Help Municipalities’ Ailing Bridges
Changing the law to disburse use tax revenue to cities and counties could be the first step in a bigger conversation on how to modernize the state's tax code.
PERS of Mississippi Has Unattainable Goals
A recently released report by the Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review (PEER) Committee of the Mississippi Legislature attempts to address the fiscal issues with Mississippi's pension system for state, municipal and county employees, but doesn't go far enough to offer solutions to fix the ailing fund. The report mentions that the Public Employees' Retirement System of Mississippi's fiscal...
A BPF View on County Infrastructure
Ultimately, the responsibility for fixing locally-owned bridges falls on the counties themselves and those that are able, yet don't take care of their core governmental functions shouldn't get a bailout from taxpayers from other part of the state.