In a special-called meeting Tuesday, the Vicksburg Board of Mayor and Alderman (BOMA) voted to exempt nonprofit veteran organizations from the 2% tax levied against restaurants in the city.

Commonly referred to as the hospitality tax, the 2% tourism tax was originally passed in the Mississippi Senate in 2015 in SB 2926 and allowed the tax to be levied on any business that serves food, regardless of whether or not the food is consumed on the premises. The money generated from the tax goes toward recreation and tourism.

Ward 2 Alderman Alex Monsour said the original bill in 2015 included an exemption for “veterans and veterans-affiliated organizations” that would essentially keep those groups from paying the tax at events where food is sold. 

“The City of Vicksburg just hasn’t done a resolution to do that, and we’re going to do it today so we can help our veterans organizations,” Monsour said. “It costs them almost $1,000 a year, just to file the paperwork properly and the total tax is around $200. It’s just time we helped them out.”

The resolution was unanimously approved.