With the significant priority we should be giving to rebuilding the areas affected by the hurricane, our state leaders should evaluate the inventory of assets owned by the state and sell those assets that are not producing the results they were intended to produce.
In many cases, there are assets that are not producing anything at all.State asset sales would provide a number of benefits. First, and most obvious, they would provide immediate income to the state that could be applied to the immediate need for the rebuilding effort. In other words, we would essentially be taking assets that are not producing as they should and trading them for assets that would be beneficial to the public.
Another benefit of selling state-owned lands, for instance, is that it would increase the local tax base, because these properties generally don�t pay property taxes or produce sales and income taxes. Selling these properties would therefore not only produce immediate income, they would continue to do so over time.
Finally, asset sales save money by eliminating maintenance and operations costs, freeing up money for other priorities. For more ideas on rebuilding, go to rebuildingmississippi.org.