Wiggins
Wiggins Mayor Darrell Berry said the city has seen substantial growth in recent years, with increasing demand for improved infrastructure.
“I think over the last three or four years, we’ve grown tremendously, and people are starting to notice us,” Berry said. “We’ve got a great location. We’re sitting between Hattiesburg and the coast, so a lot of people travel up and down Highway 49, and they’re beginning to stop and visit our restaurants and our shops.”
Berry highlighted the city’s use of the Small Municipalities and Limited Population Counties Grant Program to address infrastructure needs, particularly water and sewer lines.
“It’s about $10 million usually. I don’t think they funded it last year, but if we could get that back on the books, and maybe if we can get a little part of that, it would help us repair our water and sewer lines,” Berry said.
He also hopes legislators will reconsider legislation like Senate Bill 2503, which would have created a property cleanup fund to assist municipalities in removing dilapidated buildings.
“We’ve got a lot of dilapidated buildings that need to be torn down, old houses, and we just don’t have the funds to do it ourselves. That would be a big plus, not only for us — a lot of other cities have that same issue,” Berry said.
Berry stressed the burden that local grant match requirements place on small cities.
“If we apply for a grant — just say a $5 million grant — and we’re awarded it, and if it’s a 20% match on a small town like us, that’s a big deal. (A) 20% match — which is like a million bucks — that we would have to fork out ourselves – and for a small town, that’s kind of kind of hard to do,” Berry said.
The mayor also expressed concern about the fiscal viability of the Public Employees’ Retirement System (PERS) of Mississippi and urged legislators to avoid increasing the employer contribution rate beyond the planned 0.5% annual increase.
Berry sees opportunities for economic development through partnerships with businesses like Anduril, which recently expanded its solid rocket production facility in Stone County.
“I would like to see more businesses here, especially in our downtown area. I would like bigger tax revenue, like to see more jobs, more companies coming in,” Berry said. “When our kids graduate high school, go off to college, and when they get out on their own to find a job, they mostly have to leave here. We would love to keep our kids here at home, so if we could get, again, major businesses where we can keep our kids here at home – and I know they would love to stay here – there’s just not a whole lot of jobs.”
Your Voice Matters!
We’re reaching out to mayors across our 10-county area to learn about their priorities for the 2025 legislative session. This is an ongoing series, and we want to hear from you! If there’s a specific topic you’d like us to ask your elected officials about, email us at rhcjcnews.com.
