Last Thursday — so quietly you may have missed it — the Vicksburg Board of Aldermen and Mayor approved the renewal of the downtown’s taxing district.

Those in the district — which is basically defined geographically from Bridge Street to First East Street and Adams Street to the riverfront with some curves and exceptions — have earmarked 5.05 mills of property taxes to go toward promoting growth and the welfare of our central business district.

The tax raises about $43,710 per year, which is used to help cover the cost of salaries of those who work with the Vicksburg Main Street program, as well as the cost of promotion businesses in the downtown area.

During the meeting, Daryl Hollingsworth, who is chairman of the Vicksburg Main Street board, told city officials that about $40 million have been invested downtown in the last five years or so. Of that amount, $28 million was from private investors, who have created among other businesses, a number of luxury lofts and apartments, which are drawing residents back downtown.

As Hollingsworth astutely pointed out, before that investment began, the only people downtown were business owners and workers and shoppers. “…Now, you see people who live here. You see people walking dogs and you never saw that before.”

The remaining $12 million in downtown investments came through the city and includes things like parking garages and a new roof for the Vicksburg Convention Center.

That’s an amazing amount of money from private investors. Hollingsworth and his partner, Mary Jane Wooten, have certainly been a big part of that investment, and we all certainly hope more is to come.

Vicksburg’s downtown business district is flourishing. Many of the shops and restaurants seem to be thriving, and that’s not something one typically hears about a downtown area.

The private and municipal investment downtown is working.

Our downtown area is beautiful, and getting more so by the day. Instead of being someplace that’s deserted on the weekends, Vicksburg’s downtown is bustling, filled with great restaurants, interesting shops and museums, all in a wonderfully walkable area.

Downtown is a shining star here, and we hope, with the help of the funds from the downtown taxing district, it only gets better.