The City of Vicksburg is one-step closer to seeing a sports complex built. A bill aimed at helping fund the proposed sports complex — Senate Bill 2926 — has passed in the Mississippi Senate.

“The bill passed the Senate today with only one dissenting vote,” state Sen. W. Briggs Hopson III said Friday morning.

Hopson said the bill would then move to the House for a vote.

A similar bill in the House was also passed Friday.

House Bill 1655 authored by State Rep. Alex Monsour along with Reps. Oscar Denton and Deborah Butler Dixon, would give the City of Vicksburg and Warren County the authority to levy a two percent tax on hotels, motels and restaurants.

“The bill passed the House with a vote of 98-10,” Monsour said.

Monsour said the House bill would now go to the Senate.

“If there are no differences between the two bills the chairmen will get together and decide which bill to use, Hopson said. “If there are some differences, then three Conferees will work out the language.”

“They will accept one of the bills and then send it straight to the governor to sign and then it will become law and move to voter referendum where it will need to pass by 60 percent,” Monsour said. “After it’s signed it’s up to the City of Vicksburg to decide when to put it on the ballot.

“It’s a matter of how soon our community can get the plan together for a recreation facility to work,” he said.

“More than likely we will agree on the bill Monday and then sign it out Wednesday, I don’t expect we’ll have any problems with it.”

The chairman of the City of Vicksburg’s ad hoc recreation committee was excited about the bills’ passage.

“We are certainly excited about this revelation and believe we are finally on course to possibly see the beginning stages of the implementation of a sports complex in Warren County,” Omar Nelson said.

“If we can get this sports complex, I think it is going to be the biggest economic initiative that we’ve seen in this city since gaming,” he said.

“We obviously have a lot more work to do and there will be and needs to be a tremendous amount of dialogue that needs to take place regarding the location of the sports complex, how much it’s going to cost for its development and how much the operating cost is going to be. All those questions need to be answered by our elected officials.”

In its December report to the city, the recreation committee recommended a multipurpose sports complex on 270 acres of land that included baseball and softball fields, 15 soccer fields, 10 tennis courts, basketball and volleyball courts and a multipurpose building with indoor pool.

In a Dec. 23, 2014 memo sent by Vicksburg Mayor George Flaggs Jr. to Aldermen Michael Mayfield and Willis Thompson and other city officials, Flaggs said he was appointing two committees to determine the feasibility, location, design and finance plan for a proposed multipurpose recreation complex.

Then in February the city hired JCI Holdings LLC of Sunrise Beach, Mo., at a cost not to exceed $9,025, including expenses, to help the board find a site for the complex.

“The next step is to determine what the city believes we need in terms of sports related activities in the community and maybe based on what the ad hoc committee came up with,” Nelson said.

After the City of Vicksburg and Warren County puts together a plan they will likely present it during a public meeting or series of public meetings before putting the referendum on a ballot. It will need to pass by 60 percent of votes cast.

Nelson believes the initiative will pass.

“A lot of people are going to see the benefits of this project once it comes to fruition,” he said.