NATCHEZ, Miss. – Adams County supervisors are being especially conservative in preparing their annual budget not knowing how long the COVID crisis will hurt revenues.
“We need to be cautious,” county board President Ricky Gray said Friday.
He and other county supervisors discussed the budget being readied for the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1. County Administrator Joe Murray is doing the budget-making details. He said the county’s spending needs for next year remain about the same as the $29 million budget it’s been operating with the past year.
“There are no big surprises — other than the fact we’re losing a lot of revenues,” Murray said told the Board of Supervisors.
He expressed particular concern about declines in the struggling oil and casino sectors, which are significant revenue sources for the county.
Oil-drilling activities in Adams County have diminished because of falling prices. Magnolia Bluffs Casino in Natchez has had to limit the number of gambling patrons inside because of the coronavirus pandemic. The city and county shares casino tax revenues based on how much money the casino makes.
Magnolia Bluffs had to temporarily close its casino earlier this year because of COVID, and it has kept its hotel shuttered.
“If they close up (the casino), it’s going to hurt bad,” Murray said.
County supervisors Friday put off a request to hire four additional employees and to give pay raises for the shorthanded road department. Gray said supervisors should strive first to ensure they don’t have to lay off employees as the county suffers “an off year” for revenues.
Murray said it’s best to forestall any spending increases while the COVID recession rages. “Who knows where we’re going to be at in January? … Let’s sit tight for three or four months and see what happens,” he said.
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Murray is nearing the end of his 10-year stint as county administrator. Angie King will take over Oct. 1 as the county’s chief executive officer. She was selected by the board early this month to replace Murray, who announced in June that he’s retiring.
King — who’s been Adams County comptroller since 2013 — said she’s now shadowing Murray and will continue training with him through September.
The board on Friday reaffirmed King’s appointment as county administrator and set her annual salary at $80,000. Prior to becoming county comptroller, she worked in Alcorn State University’s internal auditing department (2012-2013), Isle of Capri Casino’s auditing and accounting offices (2005-2011) and the Mississippi Department of Revenue’s tax auditing division (1990-2005).
She has master’s degrees in business administration and workforce education leadership from Alcorn.
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In other action Friday, the Board of Supervisors appointed David Carter to the Adams County Port Commission. The former county supervisor was defeated last year by Kevin Wilson, who nominated Carter to fill the vacant Port Commission seat. County board attorney Scott Slover said state law prohibits a former county supervisor from having financial arrangements with the board for a year, but he said Carter’s service on the Port Commission is likely not a legal conflict. He said he’ll get legal guidance from the state Ethics Commission.
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