NATCHEZ, Miss. – The Board of Aldermen is asking the state Legislature to reauthorize Natchez and Adams County to fund Natchez Inc., the local economic-development agency. The state law for this expires Thursday, the last day of the fiscal year.
Legislative leaders want Gov. Tate Reeves to quickly call a special session so lawmakers can legalize medical marijuana and allocate federal COVID- relief funds, but it’s uncertain if a Natchez Inc. bill would be put on the agenda. Otherwise, the city and county boards will have to wait until 2022 to get the state’s permission to fund the business-recruitment agency headed by executive director Chandler Russ.
While a 2016 state law clearly states Natchez Inc.’s funding authorization expires at the end of the 2021 fiscal year on Sept. 30, it’s uncertain why a bill for renewal wasn’t brought forward when the state Legislature was in session earlier this year. Such local laws are normally enacted at the request of city and county government leaders.
The Board of Aldermen voted Tuesday to be allowed to give Natchez Inc. the $100,000 it’s been annually budgeting the past five years. Hopes are the new law will be retroactive to Friday, the start of the new fiscal year.
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The Board of Aldermen on Tuesday reviewed the audit done of the 2020 fiscal year, which Natchez Mayor Dan Gibson said shows the progress made in correcting an accounting backlog that had the city “come close” to losing federal funds.
While the city was three years behind in having the legally required audits done when Gibson took office July 2020, three annual audits have been done since then, “which is unheard of,” the mayor said.
“We have come a long way in a year,” said Gibson, pointing to the accounting work done to resolve the city’s fiscal bookkeeping problems going back more than eight years.
He also noted the city could end the current fiscal year on Thursday with a surplus of about $100,000 in the general fund and $900,000 in total leftover funds.
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The Board of Aldermen is seeking up to $300,000 in state funds to renovate the former Natchez Canteen building along with the old billiard hall and nearby Auburn, the city-owned antebellum mansion at Duncan Park.
The old Canteen – which is attached to Auburn’s old dairy barn — was recently transferred to the city by the Natchez Junior Auxiliary, a women’s club that operated it as a social-gathering place for teenagers in years past.
Built in 1812, Auburn’s front columns are deteriorating because of moisture-related problems,said Historic Natchez Foundation executive director Carter Burns, who’s preparing an application for the state funds from the Mississippi Department of Archives and History.
Renovations are also needed for Auburn’s billiard hall and dairy, which date back to the late 1830s or so, according to MDAH.
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