NATCHEZ — To promote the hotel tax, the Natchez Convention Center is having a free fish fry from 5 to 7 tonight for voters.

The hotel tax, which is a $2 per occupied room tax increase, will be on the June 3 general election ballot.

For the tax to pass, it needs to receive 60 percent of the vote.

Walter Tipton, director of the convention center, said the fish fry is an event to increase awareness about what can be accomplished through extra monies that will be accrued due to the new tax.

Tipton said the fish fry is funded entirely by the convention center.

The added tax dollars would be used as marketing money to sell Natchez, Tipton said, as the budget to do so has been falling short for several years.

The desire to increase taxes began with a proposal to have a $1 per occupied room hotel tax and a half percent increase in restaurant taxes.

After balking by the board of aldermen and citizens, the restaurant tax was eliminated and to compensate, the hotel tax was bumped up by another $1.

It was voted on that way and unanimously passed by the board in late February and then moved to the Mississippi Legislature where it died April 15 before it hit the Senate floor.

The bill was later revived, passed by the House and Senate and signed by the governor.