Delbert Hosemann is the current incumbent Secretary of State. He is presently on the campaign trail in hopes to become Lieutenant Governor. He is promoting his plan to fix infrastructure within the state. Hosemann stopped by Dunn Roadbuilders in Petal to discuss his plan.
There are currently 424 locally closed bridges and about 1800 posted, which means they cannot carry over a certain amount of weight. Hosemann’s plan is to fix local roads and bridges in despair by implementing a local option gas tax.
The idea would be to allow voters in a county to decide if they want to add a user fee on gasoline and diesel from two to six cents per gallon. Money generated by the fee would be in addition to the funds already received for local infrastructure.
Under the plan, the majority of county supervisors would vote to place the local option on the next General Election ballot.
“There’s been an impasse on gasoline tax our roads and bridges desperately need repair. I looked at it and over 1400 of the bridges being closed for one reason or another are in the counties so it came to me like that’s where the money needs to go”, said Hosemann
All of the money generated by the local option would go directly to the county to be shared with municipals, without any reduction from the state. Funds cannot be used for equipment, salaries, new equipment or other costs.
