Vicksburg voters will have an opportunity in mid-January to decide the fate of a proposed sports complex for the city.

Mayor George Flaggs Jr. Monday tentatively set Jan. 12 for a citywide referendum whether to levy up to a 2 percent sales tax on hotel room rentals and food and beverage sales in the city to fund the project.

“I think you need to let the people know as early as you can when you anticipate (calling an election),” he said.

He announced the date at a Monday morning Board of Mayor and Alderman work session after a discussion on the site selection committee’s decision to look at three more parcels of land in the city and county as potential sites for the proposed sports complex. North Ward Alderman Michael Mayfield, a member of the committee, said the members expect to tour the three tracts this week, weather permitting.

Flaggs believes the Jan. 12 date will give the city ample time to make a final decision on the site and finalize plans for the project. The mayor wants to open only two precincts for the referendum, following the example of Brandon, which held a 2014 tax referendum using one precinct.

He said City Attorney Nancy Thomas will get an opinion from the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office whether the city can legally reduce the number of precincts.

“I believe you can,” he said. “It’s a special election and it’s your own election, you have that authority. If the A.G.’s opinion comes back that we can, it makes sense to use only two precincts.”

He said City Clerk Walter Osborne estimated the cost of opening all 11 precincts for an election at $45,000.

He said Thomas was also checking whether another issue can be added to the referendum ballot.

“I’m one of these guys, ‘let the people tell me,’” Flaggs said. “If the people say sit this city on the Mississippi, I’m going to try. I look like a dictator, but I’m really a good guy.”

Flaggs said later he was considering allowing the voters to decide where to put the sports complex. “I have absolutely no problem with letting the people decide whether they want to build a complex or whether or not they want to select where to build the complex,” he said.

South Ward Alderman Willis Thompson asked why the city needs a separate election for the referendum. The county and state primaries are Aug. 4 and the general election is Nov. 3.

“Why not put it out this summer. All this (site selection) is in vain if the people don’t want it,” he said.

“The last thing you want to do is put a municipal election in the middle of a county and state election and have a (candidate for) supervisor lose because the constituents got confused by going to a (wrong) precinct,” Flaggs said.

Mayfield added all county officials are on the August ballot. “Whoever is going to vote against a county official is going to vote against what the city has on there. You can bank on that,” he said.

Also, Thomas said, the voting precincts for city elections are different from the county precincts, “and you have the timeline. People need to know what they’re voting on, and by the time you get all the questions answered, you’re probably going to get into fall.”

Thompson believes the voters have already decided how they will vote on the tax.

“If you ask them today, I think the majority could tell you where they stand on it and why,” he said.

Mayfield agreed, adding, “usually they won’t speak until they go in the booth.”

Flaggs said he wanted to make sure Thompson’s and Mayfield’s thoughts on the referendum are included in any discussion concerning the election.

“I will not be the fall guy on this sports complex failing,” he said. “We’re either going to sink together or we’re going to rise together.”