Video: Mayor Says Tupelo On Solid Financial Footing And ‘Stronger Than Ever’

TUPELO, MISS. (WCBI) – The Tupelo High School Drum Line started the State of the City presentation with a bang.

Mayor Jason Shelton opened the address by looking at the challenges and triumphs of the past four years. The mayor said the murder of Tupelo Police Sargeant Gale Stauffer, the EF 3 tornado of 2014 and last summer’s officer involved shooting, tested the city in different ways.

However, he says the state of the city and the Tupelo spirit is stronger than ever.

“We’re heading in the right direction, even though the road is rocky at times, we have a strong community, a resilient community,” Mayor Shelton said.

The mayor devoted most of the address to recapping “The Tupelo Plan.” Mayor Shelton said the long running major thoroughfare program has helped drive economic development throughout the city.

On urban development, Mayor Shelton said revitalization efforts in Mill Village and the West Jackson Street area are on track. The mayor pointed to the highest number of housing starts since 2008 as another sign that Tupelo is on the move.

“We’re fortunate because we have such a great financial team, we have the highest bond rating in the state, we have no new taxes in four years,” Shelton said.

Mayor Shelton also said a conservative fiscal policy has helped the city save a lot of money. And a strong economy has meant record breaking sales tax revenues.

“We received our sales tax numbers for the largest sales month we experience, which is December, and that was up. To date, we’re up a total of 520 thousand dollars over last year,” said Kim Hanna, Chief Financial Officer for the City of Tupelo.

The mayor also pointed to the opening of the city’s state of the art police headquarters as another highlight of the past year.

Mayor Shelton did say more work is needed on a feasible public transportation system for the city.