The Warren County Board of Supervisors and Sen. Mike Chaney say they currently will not support a proposed 2 percent increase in taxes to fund the Vicksburg Convention and Visitors Bureau, and Rep. George Flaggs said the legislation can’t pass without that backing.

&#8220We’re taxed to the hilt now,” Chaney said.

Last year, members of the Vicksburg Hotel & Lodging Association endorsed an increase in the occupancy tax hotel guests pay in Vicksburg and Warren County, saying Vicksburg’s promotion efforts are behind smaller cities because of a lack of funding.

The city government and the VCVB agreed. Both submitted resolutions asking legislators to approve the tax increase. But supervisors say they won’t join in the support.

Flaggs, the senior member of the Warren County legislative delegation, said he must have unified support from local governments to push the proposal.

&#8220I cannot proceed until I have a joint resolution, or one from each one respectively as long as they both agree,” Flaggs said.

The VCVB was created by the Legislature at the request of local governments in the 1970s, becoming one of the state’s first such promotional groups. The tax rate of 1 percent has not changed since, and any increase would have to be approved by the Legislature.

Currently, people renting rooms by the night, eating in restaurants or paying bar tabs here pay a 10 percent total tax. Seven percent is the state’s general sales tax; 2 percent is for support of the Vicksburg Convention Center; and 1 percent is for the VCVB.

Chaney said he would not support the tax increase even with a resolution from the county. He said Warren County’s revenue from tourism taxes, about $1 million annually, is among the highest in the state.

In January, the county board demurred a consensus on a city request to amend local and private legislation to increase the tax. Supervisors said unity is needed between the Vicksburg Hotels & Lodging Association and owners of area restaurants before the county gets involved in the issue.

&#8220We haven’t gotten anything from the restaurants,” said District 4 Supervisor and Board President Carl Flanders.

VCVB board chairman Tim Darden, who headed the Hotel & Lodging Association’s efforts to support the increase last year, said the tax increase is needed. Without it, he said, the bureau would have to continue to work within the confines of the current budget.

&#8220It would limit Vicksburg and its ability to market the city and the county,” Darden said.