Suburb offers incentives to lure car dealers out of Jackson

RIDGELAND, Miss. (AP) - Two high-end car dealerships are leaving Mississippi’s capital city as a suburb offers them tax incentives.

The Clarion Ledger reports that a Mercedes-Benz dealership left Jackson last week and opened in a new location about 1-1/2 miles (2.4 kilometers) to the north, in Ridgeland, about a year after Ridgeland approved incentives.

Ridgeland aldermen last week approved more incentives to lure another dealership out of Jackson. It sells Jaguar, Range Rover, Audi and Volkswagen brands, and plans to move in about a year.

Alderman D.I. Smith voted against the incentives, saying they could be seen as “bribing” dealerships “to move up the road.”

Ridgeland Mayor Gene McGhee projected about $175,000 in annual sales tax revenue to the city, and about $54,000 in property taxes to the Madison County School District.