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The Legislature should reach fast conclusions about a proposed sales tax break on modular homes, especially to help reconstruction in Hurricane Katrina-ravaged Gulf Coast counties.
Barbour has set a special session for noon Thursday, and he seeks a sales tax reduction on modular home materials from 7 percent to 3 percent.
The Coast needs up to 100,000 new residences to replace homes destroyed or irreparably damaged by Hurricane Katrina in August 2005. Modular homes are partially assembled off-site, shipped and assembled on residential property. They are widely viewed as at least a partial and faster remedy in the home replacement market.
An earlier special session adjourned without passing the modular home tax reduction, with House of Representatives leaders saying the needed more time to fully analyze the proposal and its budget impact.
Mississippians can begin saving on modular house purchases today after Gov. Haley Barbour signed a 4 percent sales tax cut into law. The tax break is perhaps the quickest legislation to be enacted in the state's history.
In less than two hours, both the House and Senate agreed on Senate Bill 2001 that trims sales tax on modular houses from 7 percent to 3 percent, hoping to boost reconstruction in south Mississippi.
Legislative staff sent the paperwork to the governor's office today, and Barbour signed the bill shortly after 4 p.m.
Modular houses are built in a factory and assembled on the buyer's lot. The homes are viewed as a fast way to rebuild the hurricane-ravaged Mississippi Gulf Coast.
Modular house can be built in a month, compared to the year-long wait for site-built houses on the coast.
Shares of Champion Enterprises Inc. surged nearly 10 percent Wednesday, the day after the manufactured homebuilder narrowly beat Wall Street expectations despite a cool U.S. housing market. The company's third-quarter profit dropped to $9 million, or 12 cents per share, from $16.6 million, or 20 cents per share, last year. But revenue rose 3 percent to $346.5 million, buoyed by a 17 percent jump in modular home sales to $89 million. "We think Champion Enterprises' move toward selling more modular homes is a positive trend given the higher price points and the ability of these homes to hold their value better, which makes modular homes more appealing to consumers," Sidoti & Co. analyst Paul Nouri said Wednesday in a note. The firm also reiterated its "Neutral" rating on the stock and its $8 price target.
Mississippi lawmakers return to the Capitol Thursday for a special session to work on the critical issue of rebuilding housing destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. There have been far too many special sessions of the Legislature in recent years, but Gov. Haley Barbour was right to call lawmakers back to Jackson to consider a proposal to cut sales taxes on modular homes. Barbour wants to cut the sales tax rate from 7 percent to 3 percent on modular housing, which is needed to give distressed Gulf Coast homebuyers a break on this type of housing. Barbour says the cut could reduce the price of the homes from $4,000 to $7,000. Modular housing can be a significant help for the Coast, which is in dire need of housing quickly. It is estimated that up to 81,000 housing units were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.
GIFFORD Â- Ozie Dillard, 85, just waited and waited in her chair in the sand along 43rd Street, as the sun beamed down. The hurricanes of 2004 toppled her large pecan tree, leveling the wooden home she and her husband moved into long ago, when the newlyweds left Georgia. The storm also destroyed the pictures of her deceased husband, who was a farm laborer. .
BATTLE CREEK, Mich., Oct. 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Kellogg Company K today reported strong third quarter sales growth, resulting from successful innovation introduced throughout the year, strong brand-building programs, sales execution, and core growth. The Company's strong business model continued to provide consistent performance, even in an environment of challenging cost inflation. .
The Sleep Inn and Suites, 140 Costello Drive, has been honored with its second gold award. The award is presented by Choice Hotels for receiving high quality assurance and recommendation scores for professionalism, housekeeping, and hospitality. The motel is managed by Fern Watson and Loretta Maddux. Cambridge Corp. of Winchester has moved its operations to a new location at 1114 Fairfax Pike, just north of Sherando Park outside of Stephens City. The building, which was too big for Cambridge alone, has become an office suites complex, which has already had space rented to an attorney, armed security company, a business head-hunter, real estate auctioneer, modular housing builder, eldercare, and a home-cleaning service. Cambridge, which has operated in the area since 1981, manages about 300 area properties, and has a division devoted to commercial real estate brokerage sales and leasing.
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