Infrastructure top priority for Mississippi mayors

Mississippi will receive $2.7 billion in American Rescue Plan Act funds, $1.8 billion for the state and $900 million for local governments.

How to access and plan for those dollars to improve infrastructure in cities, towns, and villages in Mississippi is the focus of over 3,000 mayors and city leaders at the annual conference of the Mississippi Municipal League.

Roads, bridges, water, and wastewater systems top the list for local infrastructure projects. Greenwood Mayor Carolyn McAdams said, “Your infrastructure is the most important asset you have in your city. That’s what drives people to your city because you have good infrastructure, good roads, good bridges, good sewer lines, and you have everything that makes your city work. That’s why that money is going to allow cities and towns to be able to do things they were not able to do before.”

Greenville Mayor Errick Simmons said, “When you look at the grade that Mississippi has on its roads, on its bridges, on its infrastructures — it’s a D. And so, with these federal funds coming in, we hope to move and get an A+ when it comes to infrastructure of our roads and of our bridges.”