City of Petal plans to sell properties

PETAL, Miss - The City of Petal plans on selling two old properties in hopes to gain revenue for the city.

The two properties are a fuel and former maintenance center for city vehicles.

Mayor Hal Marx said, "When I came into office we got of the repair business it was not efficient. It is actually cheaper for us to go out and have our vehicles serviced in a private business."

After Hurricane Katrina, former Mayor Marx mentioned that the city needed a center to obtain gas and maintain vehicles.

"My thought is that we can use fuel cards for our city vehicles. We will be able to turn those buildings into tax rolls provided that it is a place for business that will generate revenue for the city and it will be less expensive for the city to maintain" said Marx.

Mayor Marx believes private property is better for a city since it produces tax revenue.

"The vision that I think for myself and the Board of Alderman is that we want to shrink the government imprint, it is better to have private property than it is to have government own property" added Marx.

The city hopes to use some of the money from the properties to build facilities for the water department and to gain equipment for the city barn.

The former maintenance center has recently been leased to a private buyer, who wants to make it into a repair shop.